Former World No.1 Andy Roddick thinks Carlos Alcaraz can prove to be a major threat at the 2024 Australian Open as the surface at the Melbourne compliments him.
The American believes the heavy ball Spaniard hits could be even more effective in the scorching Australian summer heat while adding that defending no points at the tournament could be another plus for him.
Alcaraz pulled out of this year’s Australian Open because of a leg injury, with Djokovic downing Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to seal a record-extending 10th title.
The 20-year-old has made some big strides since competing at the event last time in 2022 when he fell to big-serving Italian Matteo Berrettini in the R3 in the five sets.
The World No.2 will enter the season-opening major on the back of the best campaign of his career to date as he claimed 6 ATP titles and posted an impressive 65-12 (84.4%) win record in 2023. His five-set victory over Djokovic in the Wimbledon final was the highlight of the tennis calendar and will always serve as a watershed moment in his stellar career that has just begun.
The Murcian clinched two Masters 1000 titles in Madrid and Indian Wells, ATP 500 events at Queens Championships and in Barcelona and an ATP 250-level event in Buenos Aires.
Roddick, a The 32-time ATP tour, titlist lauded the Spaniard for the breakthrough season and predicted that the Melbourne Hardcourts will be very good for the 2-time major champion.
“This week wasn’t the best surface for Alcaraz, but the round-robin format was great for him leading into next year. He was on a three-match losing streak after losing the first match and battled back with two really good wins to steady the ship,” assessed American while talking to Betway.
“If, at the start of the year, you’d have said, ‘Hey, listen, you’re going to win Wimbledon’, then I think he takes that without even hearing the rest.
“There were some bumps in the road towards the end of the year – and maybe he learned some lessons about fitness and timelines at Roland Garros – but, all in all, what a season it’s been for him.
“People forget he didn’t play Australia last year because of injury, so he has no points to defend until February. Australia will be a very good surface for him, especially if it gets hot down there. I’m curious to see how that heavy ball he hits, if it gets really warm, is going to jump off that surface.”
The 2003 US Open champion was also impressed with the development of the Italian ATP #4, Jannik Sinner, who concluded a superb second half of the tour and included making the last week’s ATP Finals in Turin.
“It was a big week for Sinner after a great six months. He’s now graduated to that stage of being No 3 or No 4 in the world and being in the mix every week. All of a sudden, you’re looking at him maybe being able to sneak a Major and not feel like you’re projecting too far forward into the future,” Roddick said.
“He’s worked on his serve and has gotten a lot stronger after adding muscle to his skinny frame in the last off-season. You used to be able to count on some weird errors in tight situations, but his error counts have dropped.
“He’s just becoming more and more of a complete player with every month that passes, and closing out tournament wins against big players. If I’m in Sinner’s team, next year can’t get here soon enough, even after a long season.”