“He definitely has an X-factor, ” former tennis ace Todd Woodbridge believes Carlos Alcaraz has the chance to dominate the men’s tennis
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Carlos Alcaraz and Todd Woodbridge
Todd Woodbridge, an Australian doubles legend, believes Miami Masters champion Carlos Alcaraz is starting his career at the ideal time and will not plateau-like other bright young players in recent years.
Carlos Alcaraz created Miami Open history by becoming the tournament’s youngest winner, defeating sixth seed Casper Ruud in the final 7-5 6-4. He is also the third-youngest Masters 1000 champion in history, having won the tournament in one hour and 52 minutes and living up to his billing as one of the tour’s most intriguing young players.
Only two men have won titles at this level at a younger age: Michael Chang, who won Toronto in 1990 at the age of 18 years and five months, and Rafael Nadal, who won Monte Carlo in 2005 at the age of 18 years and ten months. Alcaraz only dropped one set en route to his Miami title and will now compete on his favoured surface of the clay, encouraged by his best success to date.
“His timing couldn’t be better”- Todd Woodbridge
In an interview with ausopen.com, the former tennis ace Todd Woodbridge elaborated on his thoughts on the 18-year old Spaniard. He also stated that the teenage star’s ascension came at the perfect time, which he believes is a major component of his success. “He definitely has an X-factor, but his timing couldn’t be better. There have been some great young players who came through when you had Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at their best. So you had three-game styles, and you had to beat all three to get to the top. Whereas now, there isn’t as much to have to worry about with the top talent — both his peer group, the generation above, and then the Big Three who have dominated.”
“Alcaraz now has this window to be able to build his game, to be the dominant player,” Woodbridge went on to add. “At 18, he’s still maturing, he’s still going to grow his game. Technically he’s sound, he’s going to get stronger. He has a period of time now to be able to make his game style the best and the hardest to beat, and he’s going to set the base platform of what this next generation of players is going to be playing like.”
The Australian wrapped up his remarks by highlighting the attributes that he believes would make Carlos Alcaraz a great player. “The way he’s competed on the court has been robust, but behaviour has been exemplary,” Woodbridge said. “He’s gritty, he’s determined. Those attributes are all very important to creating that complete player. He looks like he’s watched Rafa and Roger and thought, ‘that is the way I have to approach being the best player I can be’. He just seems to be making good decisions at a young age. That’s pretty exciting for the sport.”
Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest men’s singles champion in Miami Open
It makes the Spaniard, who is just a month away from his 19th birthday was the second-youngest finalist, behind Rafael Nadal in 2005, who was about a month younger than Alcaraz is now, although Nadal lost to Roger Federer in the championship match. Also, the young Spaniard became the youngest champion in Miami Open history — Novak Djokovic was 19 when he won the tournament, then the NASDAQ-100 Open, for the first time — and picked up $1,231,245 US for the victory, nearly doubling his career earnings with one check.
Nevertheless, as a result of his victory in Miami, Alcaraz will now be ranked No. 11 in the world, just outside the top ten. He set a target of breaking the world’s top 15 by the end of the year for the 2022 season, but he has already surpassed it just four months in.
Also Read: “Carlos Alcaraz is not sure himself” Coach Ferrero makes a shocking claim ahead of the Clay season
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)