Carlos Alcaraz's potential is 'scary', claims former women's world number one Ashleigh Barty

Former women’s world number one Ashleigh Barty praised Spain’s young tennis star Carlos Alcaraz and believes his potential is ‘scary’ for his opponent. The 21-year-old is already regarded as one of the best men’s tennis players in the singles category, along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Serbia’s legendary tennis star Novak Djokovic.

Barty, who is a former world number one in women’s tennis and retired from the sport back in 2022 after winning three Grand Slams in her illustrious career, was recently quoted in a report where she heaped praise on Alcaraz and believes that his ‘potential’ is scary for his opponents.

"He has got this incredible charisma – he always looks like he is a six-year-old kid out on court having fun,” she said. "What is scary is that he can get so much better. Physically he’s incredible and to be so young and so complete as an athlete is remarkable. His game of tennis is impressive, but there’s so much more for him to learn. It’s scary to think he already has four Grand Slam titles and has been No 1 in the world and there’s so much more for him to grow into as a complete player. When he figures it out and puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, it’s scary what his potential could be."

Alcaraz is going through an impressive campaign. He is currently participating in the Paris Olympics, where he has already booked his place in the final after beating Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-1. It will be the Spaniard’s third consecutive final in a major event. He won the French Open earlier this year after beating world number four Germany’s Alexander Zverev in a five-set thriller with a score of 6–3, 2–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–2. Most recently, Alcaraz won the Wimbledon title after beating Djokovic in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2, 7-6.