Carlos Alcaraz’s emergence onto the scene came at the perfect time for men’s tennis, just when people feared that there might be a huge drop-off after the Big Three retired.
However, this sport’s cyclical nature once again proved itself, with the Spaniard surging up the world rankings and taking over where Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer left off.
He has now even usurped Novak Djokovic, whom he competed with fiercely just a few years ago, establishing himself as the outright best player in the world by some distance.
Frustratingly for the world number one though, comparisons between him and the Big Three are regular.
He has now actually come out to explain why, at least stylistically, similarities are in short supply.
Carlos Alcaraz reacts to comparisons to the Big Three
Chatting with members of the Spanish press after securing his spot in yet another final, attention somehow turned to the long-held comparisons between him and the Big Three.
Naturally, given his title-winning tendencies, such similarities are evident.
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However, he has rejected any stylistic comparisons, instead arguing: “That’s my style, that’s me, that’s how I grew up. Obviously, I admired Roger and Rafa when I was younger, I tried to imitate their shots. But as you get older, you just try to define yourself, define your type of tennis. I think that’s what I did.
“At one point, I knew what my style was, and I started practising it. Now it’s something natural; it comes out naturally. I haven’t imitated anyone in this sport, but, you know, people have talked about it because, since the ‘Big Three’ exists, there are probably many players, or right now you can see all the players and think: ‘Okay, this serve is his, this serve is that one.’
“But I think everyone has their own style, and no one has copied anyone in this sport. For me, it’s just Carlos.”
When Carlos Alcaraz was told he had copied Novak Djokovic’s serve
The reason why Carlos Alcaraz is so successful and has remained so dominant over the last few years is his unrelenting desire to improve. He is never satisfied, and therefore always moving forward, staying ahead of his competitors.
His serve is one of his greatest weapons, but it only really became that last year after plenty of trial and error.
He served his way to the US Open title, and even then was not content. By the time this year’s Australian Open came around, he had already changed it again.
However, his service motion looked eerily like one member of the Big Three’s, with Alcaraz joking: “You wanted to say it’s really similar to Djokovic serve (smiling). I know you want to.
“I wasn’t thinking about making the same serve as Djokovic. But at the end, I can even see the similarities.”
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He also admitted: “One day, I woke up and had a message from Novak. He told me: ‘Well, you’re going to have to pay me for the serve before the season starts’. It was amusing. His serve is one of the most precise we’ve ever seen, so it’s a good source of inspiration.”
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