‘Carlos Alcaraz will be the World No.1 tennis player in a few years,’ says Yevgeny Kafelnikov
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Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz has been the talk of the town in New York after he stunned the World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round of the 2021 US Open.
The Spanish teenager is inarguably enjoying his best ever Grand Slam moment at this year’s US Open. After beating the Greek player, Alcaraz also beat Peter Gojowczyk in another five set match to progress to the fourth round in New York.
As many experts have already billed him as the future of tennis in time to come, former Russian professional Yevgeny Kafelnikov is confident that the 18-year-old youngster will be the future World No.1 in the ATP rankings.
Kafelnikov even openly stated his view on Twitter, before explaining in depth to Tennis Majors.
“I stick to that statement and I will tell you why. Lately, his game has matured a lot, since what I saw last year for example. After the match, even Tsitsipas himself in the interview said that he never played against anybody who was hitting the ball so hard. One player who hits the ball hard is Andrey Rublev, and Rublev and Tsitsipas are good friends; for Tsitsipas to say that about Alcaraz, it is a big deal. He has got the game and, if he keeps going the same way, I am sure that he will be the best ranked player in the world in a maximum of three years.”
The two-time Grand Slam champion further opined that Alcaraz is a very aggressive player, unlike many other great Spanish players. Kafelnikov was impressed by Alcaraz’s ability to dictate play and finish points at the net.
“I saw the match from the first point to the very last. What surprised me was how Carlos basically never gave up. In the third set, Stefanos was 5-2 and two breaks up, but Carlos kept fighting, showing a lot of courage and maturity along the way. He is definitely not a typical Spanish player. He does not like to be one the baseline always, to sort of wait for the opponent’s mistakes. No, he likes to create the point and finish it at the net, his mindset is offensive tennis.”
Alcaraz can trouble Medvedev
Kafelnikov concluded by mentioning why he would like to see Alcaraz take on World No.2 Daniil Medvedev. He also explained why the Russian could face issues while facing the young Spaniard.
“I desperately want to see Carlos facing Medvedev, I think Alcaraz is the only one who can trouble him until the finals (it would be in semi-final, editor’s note). He won’t be scared of Medvedev, because he is the one that likes to dictate points and he can hit the ball extremely hard, which is something Daniil does not like.”
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Vivek Krishnan
(767 Articles Published)