"This is a guy who has the mindset of a champion" - says former No. 1 Tracy Austin on Alcaraz

Tracy Austin, a former world number one, believes Carlos Alcaraz has the mind of a champion who focuses on one match at a time.

Tracy Austin is a former grand slam champion who was number one as well and that's something Carlos Alcaraz would like to be one day as well. The American firmly believes Alcaraz has the tools to get there and she is hardly the only one. Alcaraz has been widely touted as the biggest talent since the big three and so far he has lived up to the hype.

Speaking about the Spaniard, Austin said:

"I think a guy like this, he's probably not thinking about (defending a title). He's top five now. It's not going to really matter (defending a title). This is a guy who has a mindset: 'Give me the balls. I will win the match today. Who do I play next?' That's the kind of mindset of a champion, not like I have to defend something. That's not the way you get the job done second time around."

Austin is not wrong in saying that because Alcaraz demonstrated his champion mentality a couple of times this year. In Miami, he faced issues in several matches but rallied to win them all and secure the trophy in the end. He also won two matches in a day in Barcelona, one of which was the final. He made several superb comebacks this year alone.

The Madrid run was epic as he defeated Nadal and Djokovic in consecutive rounds as well as beating two-time Madrid champion Alexander Zverev in the final.