Gael Monfils sees budding tennis 'legend' in Spain's Carlos Alcaraz

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.

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“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.

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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.”

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