The 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest man to top the singles rankings at 19 years, 4 months and 6 days old, and the first teenager in the Open Era to top the men's rankings.
The Spaniard turns 20 today, but the comparisons with all-time greats like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic has already begun.
The former American tennis star Andy Roddick, who has been no. 1 in Tennis believes that GOAT conversations are premature as the Spaniard has just turned 20.
He believes that the conversation cannot happen for at least the next decade due to the accomplishments of the big three of Novak, Nadal and Federer.
"It’s not a given to be at his current level for the next 15-20 years. The Big Three have made the conversation premature for the next decade,” he replied to a tweet talking about Alcaraz’s GOAT candidature.
However, Andy believes that Alcaraz is the most complete 19-year-old player he has ever seen. Even better than the legendary Novak at 19. Although he believes that Novak will retire as the GOAT.
“Carlos better at 19 than Novak was at same age. Novak playing better from 28 years old on than anyone has.”
The American star believes the difference in present and future, which is uncertain, but as of now he believes that the Spaniard has NO weaknesses.
“I’ll be sure to pump the brakes on giving my opinions… about tennis…. On TV ….. on a show that people watch for tennis coverage ….. there’s plenty of time ahead and not saying he will have the career they have. Simply, guy doesn’t have weaknesses right now. At 19, not sure I’ve seen it”
Roddick also stated that Alcaraz’s mental strength is praise-worthy, while responding to the tweets saying that the Spaniard’s isn’t as mentally strong as Nadal.
“So you’re predicting he’s not mentally tough? Has he shown anything so far that suggests he’s not mentally tough? Also you don’t think he’s expected to win ? I appreciate you explaining pressure and expectation to me.”