Carlos Alcaraz: Next star in men's tennis takes swing with Federer

Spain’s young tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz had another practice session with the former world number one Roger Federer. 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 the likes of Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

On the other hand, Federer, who retired from the sport back in 2022 because of fitness concerns, is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 20 Grand Slam titles in his illustrious career.

Both Alcaraz and Federer were seen practicing during the recently concluded Shanghai Masters. The video was released on a social media platform Instagram where the two can be seen discussing about various aspects of the sport. The meetup was a special one as Federer, ahead of the Laver Cup, stated that he would like to apologise to the young Spaniard for not training again at Wimbledon a few years back.

“I barely know Carlos Alcaraz so I’m really excited to see him play for the very first time,” he said. “I only practised once with him at Wimbledon when he was still a junior, and then the next day, my coach said, ‘Do you want to warm up with him again?’ and I said, ‘No, it’s okay, I’d rather warm up with his coach, who was my generation, Juan Carlos Ferrero.’ I can apologize to Carlos this week!”

Alcaraz, who played a key role in helping Team Europe win the Laver Cup for the first time in three years, also spoke about that meeting with Federer during the Wimbledon training session a few years back and called him one of his ‘idols’. “I remember Wimbledon training as if it was yesterday,” he said back then. “I will never forget it. It was a unique moment. I will never forget the first time I met Federer, I have the photo in my room.”