"He could turn out to be the single most important tennis player that we have ever had": Wilander lauds high praise on World Number One Carlos Alcaraz

Mats Wilander was very excited to watch Carlos Alcaraz win the US Open and he thinks the Spaniard might end up being one of the most important tennis players in history.

Alcaraz didn't show up overnight but he took his game rather quickly from a top 30 level to a top 10 level. It happened early in the 2022 season when he started to win multiple events. For Wilander, watching him play was the most exciting thing that happened in the past 20 year as he explained to Eurosport:

"For me to see Alcaraz winning the US Open was the most probably the most exciting tournament that I've seen in the 20+ years that I've worked in TV or in media as an analyst. I have said that I think if Alcaraz can keep winning - and I've even told [Alcaraz's coach] Juan Carlos Ferrero this in private - he could turn out to be the single most important tennis player that we have ever had in our sport."

Wilander understands how that comes off so he added more context:

"People are going to say, what do you mean? Isn't Roger Federer...? Isn't Rafael Nadal...? Yes, they are absolutely, incredibly important. But here you have a guy who is trying so hard, he is so fast, he is playing with so many different shots, and he's serving and volleying at 15-30. He's 19 years old! He's hitting drop shots at 15-30, he's 19 years old! Then he dives, and at the end of it, he's smiling and he's laughing."

He continued:

"So if I'm a parent, I'm going to look at Alcaraz, and I'm going to say, 'Whoa, whoa, that's the No. 1 player in the world? And he's having that much fun? You kids, you are all going to play this sport because that seems to be a life-changing situation.' I'm not saying he's going to win 10-15 majors, but I really hope that he keeps winning because that's exactly the role model that we need to spread the message of how fun tennis can be and how it is supposed to be played."