Carlos Alcaraz has ‘the best forehand of all time,’ says legend
Carlos Alcaraz ‘has the best forehand of all time,’ says multiple Grand Slam winner and former world number one Mats Wilander.
Alcaraz has made an enormous impression in tennis in the last two years, winning both the US Open and Wimbledon and topping the world rankings too.
He is looking imperiously good again at the Australian Open so far, cruising into the quarter-finals whilst delivering two bagels and three 6-1s along the way.
His tennis has been genuinely outstanding, and that has led Eurosport expert Wilander to make a very bold claim.
“He [Carlos Alcaraz] has the best forehand of all time,” Willander told Eurosport following his fourth-round demolition of Miomir Kecmanovic.
“The difference between him [and Kecmanovic] is that they’re both trying to hit forehands.
“He’s got so many options: he can go inside out, inside in, drop shot – both ways as well. And he can loop it up the way Rafa Nadal can. You’ve got to stay away from his forehand or you’re going to have a very long day.
“It’s not easy for me to analyse something that I don’t understand. Alcaraz’s forehand placement is highly unusual.
“He went 63% of the time into Kecmanovic’s forehand. That’s usually the strength of most tennis players and only 25% to the backhand.
“He hits the ball so hard that no one expects this kind of tennis because no one else does it, really. Djokovic is going there sometimes, but winners there are unheard of because you can stretch out and defend there much better than the backhand [wing].
“The acceleration is incredible. In terms of technique, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better forehand. It’s not the big, loopy Rafa, it’s better than Djokovic.”
You can watch the Australian Open live on Eurosport and Discovery+.
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