Carlos Alcaraz destined to be 'one of the special ones,' says Alex Corretja

Carlos Alcaraz has been called one of the 'special ones' and that he will win all Grand Slams and Masters 1000 tournaments on all surfaces says compatriot and former World No.2, Alex Corretja.

Alcaraz has already picked up the US Open and Wimbledon at just the age of 20 and has been World No.1, an honour he is chasing again despite Corretja believing he shouldn't get preoccupied with the chase. But he has full faith that he can continue to add Grand Slams in the coming years.

“I’ve said it a long time ago, I think Alcaraz is going to win all the Grand Slams on all surfaces, even the Masters. I think he is going to be a player who is going to win all the titles practically possible and it is because of the way he plays, his ambition, and his character,” Corretja said in an interview to Eurosport. “I think his tennis is very high. So it seems to me that Alcaraz is destined to be one of the special ones.”  

“To me, winning a Grand Slam would make it a very good season,” Corretja continued. “I think that this year, for example, Roland Garros is going to be a very big goal for him. After what happened last year (cramps against Djokovic), I think he will manage it differently. He will have less anxiety and he’ll be wanting to get to Paris to win, because he knows that it is a very long Grand Slam.”

Corretja continued and said that despite his grand prediction for Roland Garros that the Australian Open could be the perfect fit for him in terms of winning a Grand Slam tournament early on in the year.

“I think the Australian Open is a perfect fit for Alcaraz because of the conditions, because of the way the ball bounces, because it can be hot, because of night sessions where there is a kind of atmosphere that’s dramatic,” he said. “Everything becomes spectacular and he likes that. It’s a little bit like the night session in New York. I think if he arrives well and with some preparation matches it’s going to be perfect. He can play a very good Australian Open and he will be eager as an opportunity to seize knowing he didn’t play last year, the last time he played there, he ended up losing a very close match.”