"These other guys are going to drive Carlos Alcaraz absolutely nuts" - John McEnroe makes eye-opening remark on his 'worry' about Spaniard's height
Carlos Alcaraz has already established himself as one of the greatest young talents in tennis history, with his impressive ball-striking and powerful game. However, John McEnroe has voiced concerns about an element that could hold the Spaniard back against his opponents.
During a recent appearance on the 'Served with Andy Roddick' podcast, John McEnroe discussed the growing trend of taller players dominating men’s tennis. He pointed out that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic were markedly taller than players from his era, such as himself, Andre Agassi, and Bjorn Borg.
The former World No. 1 further highlighted the taller stature of the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, emphasizing the advantages their height had on the court.
"Now, you even got Medvedev, these type of guys standing 50 feet behind the baseline, willing to run 25% more than his opponent and standing as far back as you possibly can. They're 6'6". Zverev and those guys," McEnroe said.
Although McEnroe conceded that Medvedev and Zverev didn't possess the explosive speed of Carlos Alcaraz, he expressed his "worry" that the Spaniard would struggle mentally due to his shorter height in comparison.
John McEnroe also deemed Alcaraz the "greatest talent" he had seen in two decades but pointed out the 21-year-old's tendency to grow frustrated against taller opponents and their imposing serves.
"Do they have the explosive speed of Carlos Alcaraz? No, because no one does. This guy’s the greatest talent that I’ve seen in the last 20 years. It is the most pleasure to watch Alcaraz maybe than I’ve ever seen, certainly at this age. I worry only because he’s 6 feet and a half inch tall and that these other guys are going to drive him absolutely nuts," the American said.
"He’s going to play these guys that just serve out of a mountain and you know get frustrated, which is what happened at the end of last year. It happened on a handful of occasions. It's going to be tough. He's got to be really strong," he added.
"I hope that I'm wrong about Carlos Alcaraz" - John McEnroe backs Spaniard to win 10 Grand Slam titles
Despite his reservations, John McEnroe hoped that his concerns about Carlos Alcaraz's ability to maintain his dominance for the long run were unfounded and predicted that the Spaniard would win 10 Grand Slam titles.
"I hope that I'm wrong about Alcaraz. That he's not going to be able to keep this up that long. I still think he's going to win 10 of them, which would be unbelievable," McEnroe said during the same podcast.
McEnroe has previously described the four-time Grand Slam champion as his "favorite player to watch." He also expressed his belief that Alcaraz was "better than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic at 21."
Interestingly, Andre Agassi and Coco Gauff's former coach Brad Gilbert recently asserted that he could only think of one other player that was as good as Carlos Alcaraz at the same age - John McEnroe himself.