Andy Roddick believes Carlos Alcaraz will be dangerous in Melbourne despite his disappointing results at the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin, where he made it to the semi-finals.
While he did not play his best, Alcaraz did play a respectable event in Turin. The most concerning aspect of it all is that, despite not playing at his best, he managed to advance to the semifinals against the best tennis players in the world.
His strengths weren’t really suited to the surface, but former ATP world no. 1 Andy Roddick predicts that at the Melbourne Australian Open in 2024, that will be the case.
Given that Novak Djokovic missed last year’s tournament due to injury, the matchup between the Spaniard and Alcaraz is sure to be highly interesting from an Australian perspective.
The two could play a thrilling match that hasn’t been seen in a long time. Their encounter in Turin was a huge letdown because Alcaraz was unable to effectively counter his opponent.
Roddick expressed his thoughts about Alcaraz and said: “His 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. 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.”
He added: “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 in Australia last year because of an 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.”
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
WLWLLWLWWW Ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 18th of November when he was defeated by world no.1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-2 in the semifinal in the Nitto ATP Finals (draw).
Currently, during this year the Spaniard achieved a composed 65-12 win-loss record. Alcaraz has won 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Carlos was the runner-up in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.
