French veteran tennis player
Gael Monfils believes that
Spain’s young tennis star
Carlos Alcaraz can already be classified as a ‘legend’
in the sport. The 21-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players
currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, along with Italy’s
Jannik Sinner and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
However, French veteran tennis star Monfils was quoted in a
report by Tennis.com, in which he called Alcaraz a ‘legend’ despite being very
young. The former world number six further went on to state that he sees
Alcaraz as similar to Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer because of his ability to produce goods on the court.
“He’s a complete
athlete, in terms of speed, endurance, power,” said the 37-year-old. “And then
his tennis, of course, is quite complete, too. Backhand, forehand, it's quite
hard to see where you can (hit). He improved a lot on the return, he’s serving
big. He’s just a really complete player. At the moment, I see him (the same) as
Novak, as Rafa, as Roger, for me. He’s just a bit younger, but he’s already a
legend.”
Monfils is currently playing in the
Cincinnati Open, where he
has booked his place in the round of 32 after beating Australia’s Alexei
Popyrin — who recently won the Canadian Open — in straight sets with a score of
7-5, 6-3. He is now set to face Alcaraz in the next round, who is coming into the event after a little break following his impressive performance in the Paris Olympics, where he ended up winning the silver medal. He lost in the final
of the singles category event to Serbia’s Djokovic in straight sets with a
score of 7-6, 7-6. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two in
professional tennis.
Talking about the contest, the Paris-born star stated that he always looks forward to facing a player of a high calibre. “For me, it's
always cool to play such a big star like Carlos or Jannik —or of course, in my
day it was Novak, Rafa, Roger,” he said. “But to play those youngsters, it's
always a pleasure. Tomorrow, it's gonna be a great fun for me. Obviously,
really tough, but it's gonna be something that I will remember for a couple
years.”