Carlos Alcaraz is back on clay, with the Spanish superstar now making the transition from hard courts.
Alcaraz will soon be playing at the Monte Carlo Masters, fresh from a hard-court swing that involved two titles, including the Australian Open.
And despite his superb 17-2 record, he met many challenges along the way, including a final against legendary Serbian Novak Djokovic in Melbourne.
But now the Spanish superstar has been tasked with a different challenge entirely, having been asked to pick his favorites among various ATP icons.
Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of tennis players?
Carlos Alcaraz prefers Pete Sampras over Boris Becker
On the LTA’s Instagram, Alcaraz was first asked to pick between Pete Sampras and Boris Becker.
He selected Sampras, saying: “Sorry Boris!”
But Lleyton Hewitt then entered the debate, with the Spaniard picking the Australian legend over the American.
Alcaraz then continued to select Hewitt over a long list of players; Tommy Paul, Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey and Marin Cilic.
The first real challenge to Hewitt arrived from Matteo Berrettini, with Alcaraz laughing and saying “ahh, that’s difficult,” before eventually sticking with Hewitt.
But Grigor Dimitrov finally broke the trend, only for the current world number one to then select Andy Murray, who he also picked over himself.
But like Dimitrov the Scot didn’t last too long as Alcaraz favored Rafael Nadal over him, saying: “Rafael Nadal is the winner!”
Who will retire with more Grand Slam titles – Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic?
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Where does Carlos Alcaraz rank among the ATP greats?
All of the players Alcaraz was tasked with discussing have enjoyed fantastic success on the ATP Tour, some more than others.
But it’s fair to say they have already left a mark on men’s tennis, something that the Spaniard has already done at the age of 22.
He is already a seven-time Grand Slam champion, and recently claimed his 25th and 26th career ATP titles in Melbourne and Doha respectively.
But based on titles alone, Alcaraz has some way to go to catch the all-time greats, which is understandable given the stage of his career.
It is a star-studded list that is topped by Jimmy Connors with 109, while he’s followed by Roger Federer on 103 and Djokovic on 100.
| Player | Titles |
| Jimmy Connors | 109 |
| Roger Federer | 103 |
| Novak Djokovic | 101 |
| Ivan Lendl | 94 |
| Rafael Nadal | 92 |
| John McEnroe | 77 |
| Rod Laver | 72 |
| Bjorn Borg | 66 |
| Ilie Nastase | 64 |
| Pete Sampras | 64 |
They are the only men to have hit the 100 milestone, but Ivan Lendl and Nadal were not far behind on 94 and 92 respectively.
American legend Pete Sampras finished his glittering career with 64 ATP titles, while his German rival Becker clinched 49.
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