Carlos Alcaraz has undoubtedly inspired the next generation of players, despite only being 21 years old.
Luca Nardi loved playing Alcaraz at the Qatar Open, despite the Spaniard having beaten the Italian in the round of 16.
Alcaraz did, however, lose his quarter-final meeting with Jiri Lehecka, in what was a shock result for the top seed.
But the Spanish superstar has already won one title this year at the Rotterdam Open, which came after he fell to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Alcaraz clinched his 17th ATP Tour title in Rotterdam, with that stunning honours list involving four Grand Slam titles.
Sam Stosur identifies Joao Fonseca as the next Carlos Alcaraz
He and 23-year-old Jannik Sinner have taken the ATP by storm in recent times, with the pair sharing the four Grand Slam trophies in 2024.
But former professional Sam Stosur thinks there is already a new Alcaraz in the making, having been blown away by 18-year-old Joao Fonseca, who won the Argentina Open earlier this month.
Asked on The Tennis podcast what other players must be thinking when they see someone so young capable of such feats, Stosur replied: “They’re thinking what have I got to do to catch up or keep going with him.
“No seriously, he’s got the goods to beat some of the best players in the world. Is it going to happen straight away? Who knows?
“Because there are other things that play into all these matchups and everything as well, obviously. But he is going to be on the rise.
“I just think it’s kind of funny that, what was it last year he was hitting with [Jannik] Sinner and said he was going to go to college, and he’s like, ‘no, no, you’re too good for that. You could go to the tour. Like, don’t worry about college, you’re ready for the ATP’.
“And obviously decisions were made, and definitely the right decision what he’s done. So I think it’s really exciting for tennis.
“That’s what everyone was talking sort of about Alcaraz a couple of years ago when he first burst onto the scene, so now we’ve got the next person kind of yeah following through from Alcaraz.”
Matteo Berrettini sends reminder to new generation against Novak Djokovic
Fonseca stormed to the NextGen ATP Finals title at the end of 2024, before busting onto the scene on the ATP Tour by beating Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open.
The 18-year-old then shocked Francisco Cerundolo in Buenos Aires, although was quickly sent crashing back down to earth by Alexandre Muller in the Rio Open round of 32.
Still, he has shown immense promise for his age, and looks certain to challenge for many major titles in the near future.
At the same time, however, the older generation is making sure they are not being forgotten about amid the current rise of many young stars.
Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini are undoubtedly on that list, with the latter having beaten the former in the Qatar Open round of 32.
The Italian did, however, finally fall to another young star in Jack Draper, but his initial win over the Serbian left Stosur really impressed, while Djokovic was praised by fans for his sportsmanship.
Asked what the result meant for both players, Stosur said: “Obviously exciting for Berrettini, we know that he’d been out with injuries and his wrist and everything else.
“He is a Grand Slam finalist, so we know he can be one of the best players in the world, so it’s really nice for him, to see him back playing really good tennis, and a little bit more consistently now too I feel.
“The win over Novak, I think, obviously it’s huge, it’s not a Slam though, and it is his first match back I think from… well early matches from Australian Open time, with that injury as well, so maybe even a little bit surprised to see him back so soon.
“But I don’t think Novak’s going to show up to a tournament not prepared to win it and be ready. So yeah, exciting for Berrettini and maybe this is a little kickstart for Novak again to be really into these smaller events that he goes to.”
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