Carlos Alcaraz will return to action this week at the Cincinnati Masters where he will play his opening match against a player who describes him as a ‘legend‘ of the sport.
Gael Monfils has praised the rapid rise of his Spanish rival, who is currently ranked third in the world and has won the last two Grand Slam tournaments. Alcaraz, who is 16 years younger than the Frenchman at 21, is the youngest player in history to win major titles on three different surfaces and has already held the No.1 spot for 36 weeks. At the Paris Olympics, he won his first medal after finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the singles final.
“He’s a complete athlete, in terms of speed, endurance, power,” Monfils said in tribute to Alcaraz. “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 has already been in action in Cincinnati. In the first round, he defeated Australia’s Alexi Popyrin 7-5, 6-3, who clinched the Canadian Open title in Montreal earlier this week. It is his 13th appearance in the tournament which is more than any other player in this year’s draw. His best run was to the quarter-final stage in 2011.
Now set to take on Alcaraz, Monfils states he is relishing the challenge of taking on one of the sport’s biggest young stars.
“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. But to play those youngsters, it’s always a pleasure,” he said.
“It’s gonna be great fun for me. Obviously, really tough, but it’s gonna be something that I will remember for a couple of years.”
The upcoming match will be the third time Monfils has played Alcaraz on the Tour and the second this season. He is yet to win a set against him.
