TENNIS
The last praise for Alcaraz: “He’s a Broadway performer”
The former Williams sisters’ coach Rick Macci talked about Alcaraz’s qualities, especially the way he deals with pressure.
Carlos Alcaraz will make his return to the tennis courts at the National Bank Open, Toronto, where he will be looking to win his 13th ATP title after lifting the Wimbledon title.
The world No. 1 will try to keep impressing fans with his aggressive style of play and powerful shots, weapons that will likely give him good results on hard courts.
The Murcia-bred prodigy, 20, sees Toronto as a good opportunity to get back to the rhythm he needs to feature in the fourth and last Grand Slam event of the calendar, the US Open, where he will defend last year’s title.
Alcaraz has become the most popular player in the men’s category after winning two majors at such a young age and the tennis community hasn’t stopped praising him for his achievements.
Alcaraz is “the leader in the clubhouse”
Many tennis experts, coaches, and fans believe Carlitos will go down in history as one of the greatest players to have ever held a racket, and the former Williams sisters’ coach Rick Macci is one of them.
Macci, who also mentored the likes of Jennifer Carpriati, Maria Sharapova, and Andy Roddick, believes that losing is part of the sport and it will happen to everyone, but stated that the Spaniard has the potential to make history.
“I think he can win any tournament that he plays. But that being said, no one’s going undefeated. No one’s gonna win all the time. He’s gonna lose. Anything’s possible, especially in men’s tennis, because if someone’s serving big and hitting the corners, you get into a tie-breaker, anything’s possible”, he said.
“But he’s the leader in the clubhouse. And barring injury, this guy can go places that maybe we’ve never seen in the game of tennis. Anything’s possible with this guy”, Macci stated.
He believes he can repeat his feat of winning the US Open again and lift his third major title adding that hard courts fit his aggressive game:
“Even I think his best surface might be hard court simply because of his movement. The way he can stop and start, and he can slide, his movement is even better, in my opinion, on hard court”.
" (...) But more importantly, the guy’s a Broadway performer. You know, he loves the pressure. He loses 20-ball rallies and smiles. He has gratitude. His two best assets, in my opinion, are his mom and dad. You know, the way he’s wired”, he concluded.
In Toronto, fans won’t have the chance of seeing a hypothetical Alcaraz-Djokovic clash, as the Serb decided to withdraw to rest a bit more. Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, and Casper Ruud are some of Alcaraz’s main threats in the draw.