Some have described Carlos Alcaraz’s brand of tennis as “fun”, others say he is “a breath of fresh air” and now Andy Murray has added a few more adjectives to the list as he likes the Spaniard’s “Kamikaze” approach to tennis.
Alcaraz took the tennis world by storm last year as he surged up the rankings and went on to win his maiden Grand Slam when he defeated Casper Ruud in the US Open final. That result helped him to become the youngest world No 1 as he was just 19 years old at the time.
And he has continued his remarkable rise this year as he won a second major by beating Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in July to take his singles trophy tally to 12.
Naturally, the tennis world is excited about the 20-year-old’s potential as it is not only the results that have turned him into one of the biggest stars, but also his style of tennis and his happy demeanour.
Former world No 1 Murray was asked about Alcaraz’s game and he told the official ATP Tour website: “The thing that I love about watching him is just the freedom that he plays with and part of that is youth I think. I just hope he doesn’t lose that.
“That’s the one thing I would love to just see him continue to play that sort of style of tennis that he plays with. The drop shots or serve-volleys. Sometimes it looks a little bit Kamikaze, but he just is totally instinctive. And I love that.”
Alcaraz’s rise hasn’t come as a complete surprise to Murray though as back in February 2022 he took his crystal ball out and predicted that the Spaniard would become No 1.
At that point, Alcaraz hadn’t reached the top 50 in the world yet, but the three-time Grand Slam winner had spoken to the youngster’s coach, former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, and was left in no doubt that he would rise up the rankings.
“I asked Ferrero, ‘Does he love tennis? Does he work hard?’” Murray revealed, but Ferrero assured him that the youngster was “really good with that stuff”.
“That was sort of enough for me having seen his game and then hearing from his coach and someone who knows what hard work is like that he was going to go on potentially to have a great career,” the two-time Wimbledon champion added.
