"Jannik Sinner is coming and Holger Rune is there": Jimmy Connors describes facet Carlos Alcaraz has to change to keep pace with rivals

Retired tennis great Jimmy Connors has been full of praise for tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, but believes the Spaniard still has some areas to work on if he'd like to remain ahead of his peers.

Alcaraz has had a disappointing start to the 2024 season, losing in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before falling short in the semifinals in Buenos Aires. An ankle injury forced him to retire in his opening round match in Rio, but the Wimbledon champion looks set to return to action at Indian Wells, which begins on March 3, 2024.

In the latest episode of his Advantage Connors podcast, the former World No.1 spoke on the rising stars on the ATP Tour, and singled out Alcaraz as someone who could tweak certain aspects of his game.

"Maybe Alcaraz needs to change a little bit and try to figure out something else," said Connors. "It's not a big move, just little scratches along the way that maybe he can change to counterbalance his opponents a little bit. He's going through a period of downtime But you can see he likes the game, he works hard and to continue to be at the top, he's going to have to stay that way.
"All these guys are trying to say: Okay, that could be me now. It might be my turn now. They are starting to act like this and will only make things harder for each other. Jannik Sinner is coming and Holger Rune is there. Many of these guys see that Roger Federer is gone and Rafael Nadal could wait for France and play the Olympics. Who knows what happens, Djokovic is still playing
"At a young age, Carlos Alcaraz had pretty damn good success. But along with this also comes some injuries that we are aware of. I think some players have understood how to play him or how he plays. What he did so well initially took them by surprise. Maybe they've taken to this a little bit."