"Alcaraz is much better than Nadal in many ways": Former World No.6 Lapentti on comparisons between top Spaniards

Former world number 6 Nicolas Lapentti believes Alcaraz is better than Nadal in many ways as he explained to Craig Shapiro.

Carlos Alcaraz had a tremendous rise this year that surprised many and not just himself. Wanting to finish in the top 20, Alcaraz blew that out of the father fairly quickly as it was clear in May that he would be finishing in the top 10.

By then he already won a few events including two Masters events. Despite his disliking it, he was once again compared to Nadal. Former player Lapentti can understand why but to him, Alcaraz is a better player:

“If you can compare Alcaraz to Nadal when they were both 19, Alcaraz is much better in many different things. He serves better than Rafa. From the baseline, he is a bit more aggressive. Rafa was bad with his transition when he was 19 then he started improving a lot and tried to get more aggressive."

He continued:

“They move pretty similar. When they have to defend, they are very good - both of them. Then, coming to the net, Alcaraz is much better than where Rafa was at 19. So, in many ways, Alcaraz is better."

Despite that Lapentti would not forecast 20 grand slams for Alcarza because he explained that Nadal is just the best at competing:

“Nadal has this thing that he’s just the best at competing. Every single point, every single week for the past 20 years. It’s 20 years. I played Rafa in 2003, ok? In Bastad. The first time we played, Rafa was 17. I beat him 7-6 in the third (set). I saved four match points. He was this giant kid, baby face, huge arms fighting like a bull."