
As his dream run continues at the 2021 US Open, many are starting to speculate on the potential of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz, and this includes former World No.1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
The retired Russian tennis professional admits to being a big fan of the 18-year old, and predicts that Alcaraz could be ranked World No.1 within three years if he maintains his rapidly improving game.
“I am a big fan. The kid is very good for the game of tennis," said Kafelnikov. "He is young, he is talented and has huge potential to get to the place where I think he can get.”
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After his shocking third round win over World No.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and his equally impressive fourth round victory over German Peter Gojowczyk, Alcaraz became the youngest male player to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open since 1963.
When asked about his future in the game, Kafelnikov predicted that Alcaraz could top the rankings in three years.
“I stick to that statement and I will tell you why. Lately, his game has matured a lot, since what I saw last year for example,” he explained.
“After the match, even Tsitsipas himself in the interview said that he never played against anybody who was hitting the ball so hard. One player who hits the ball hard is Andrey Rublev, and Rublev and Tsitsipas are good friends; for Tsitsipas to say that about Alcaraz, it is a big deal.
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“He is definitely not a typical Spanish player. He does not like to be one the baseline always, to sort of wait for the opponent’s mistakes. No, he likes to create the point and finish it at the net, his mindset is offensive tennis. He has got the game and, if he keeps going the same way, I am sure that he will be the best ranked player in the world in a maximum of three years.”
Alcaraz is set to face 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals, with both men vying for a spot in their first Grand Slam semifinal.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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