Tommy Paul claims there’s a player on the ATP Tour with a crazier forehand than Carlos Alcaraz who Andre Agassi would’ve loved playing against

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Carlos Alcaraz has enjoyed a strong start to his clay-court season, reaching two finals in two weeks.

The Spaniard transitioned to clay with great success, as Alcaraz won the Monte-Carlo Masters, beating Lorenzo Musetti in the final, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Returning home, Alcaraz then reached the final of the Barcelona Open, coming up short against Holger Rune.

Alcaraz will now look to reclaim the Madrid Open title, which he won in 2022 and 2023, having fallen to defeat in last year’s quarterfinals.

Ahead of his return to action on Saturday, one of Alcaraz’s rivals has named another top player who he thinks had a better forehand than the world number three during his ‘prime’ years.

Tommy Paul says Stefanos Tsitsipas had a better forehand than Carlos Alcaraz during his prime

During an interview with the Madrid Open’s YouTube channel, world number 12 Tommy Paul was asked to pick the shot from any player on the ATP Tour he’d like to take.

“I think prime [Stefanos] Tsitsipas’ forehand is pretty amazing,” he said.

“The same with [Carlos] Alcaraz.”

The 27-year-old then compared Tsitsipas and Alcaraz’s forehands, claiming that the former had the best forehand on tour at one point.

“I think both of their forehands when they are on, it’s crazy,” said Paul.

“I think maybe Tsitsipas more, because he has to move more to hit it.

“He has that hole on the backhand side, but he covers it so well by hitting great quality forehands all the time, and he moves to his left unbelievably well to find the forehand.

“I think at one point at least his forehand was the best on tour.”

Throughout their tennis careers, Alcaraz and Tsitsipas have both enjoyed success on the forehand side.

Both players stack up well compared to their ATP rivals on forehand quality, although the Spaniard does look to have a slight edge in two key metrics.

Perhaps that edge has been the key to Alcaraz’s success against Tsitsipas over the years, as he leads the head-to-head with the Greek, 6-0.

• 2024 French Open QF – Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4
• 2023 French Open QF – Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6
• 2023 Barcelona Open F – Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 6-4
• 2022 Barcelona Open QF – Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
• 2022 Miami Open 4R – Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 6-3
• 2021 US Open – 3R – Carlos Alcaraz beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6, 7-6

Tommy Paul thinks Andre Agassi would be a ‘nightmare’ matchup for Stefanos Tsitsipas if they played

Paul was then asked for his thoughts on how Tsitsipas would perform if he was playing on the ATP Tour 20 years ago.

“I think he would do really well,” he said.

“I think even 20 years ago there are guys who would give him quite a bit of trouble.

“The way that [Andre] Agassi plays would be a nightmare for Tsitsipas, but I think he is a good competitor and he has that forehand weapon that could also make him uncomfortable.

“I think on clay he would enjoy playing Agassi.”

Both Tsitsipas and Agassi enjoyed strong clay-court careers, with the latter winning the French Open title in 1999.

Tsitsipas lost to Novak Djokovic in the French Open final four years ago, his best-ever result at Roland Garros.

The 26-year-old led by two sets to love but couldn’t finish the job, as he lost to Djokovic, 7-6, 6-2, 3-6, 2-6, 4-6.

He has, however, enjoyed real success at the Masters 1000 level on clay, winning three Monte-Carlo Masters titles between 2021 and 2024.

Tsitsipas would no doubt love to add a fourth clay-court Masters 1000 title to his collection when he kicks off his 2025 Madrid Open campaign against either Jan-Lennard Struff or a qualifier on Saturday, April 26.