Andre Agassi expressed his views on Carlos Alcaraz at the recently concluded TiE Global Summit in Bangalore, India. The eight-time Major winner believes that while the young Spaniard’s game has the attributes that the famed ‘Big 3’ boasted of, he still has a long way to go in terms of matching their legacy.
Djokovic, Nadal and Federer – colloquially known as the Big 3 in tennis – dominated the sport for most of the last two decades, winning a combined 66 Major titles. With Nadal and Federer having hung up their racquets and Djokovic also nearing the end of his career, one of the top players who is currently under the spotlight happens to be Carlos Alcaraz.
In that context, Andre Agassi was asked to give his thoughts on the Spaniard during his appearance at the TiE Global Summit in Bangalore this week. The American heaped rich praise on the four-time Major winner, before conceding in the same breath that he needed to improve his decision-making and physical conditioning to match Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer’s respective levels.
“Alcaraz defends like Novak [Djokovic], has power and spin like [Rafael] Nadal, and has hands and finesse like [Roger] Federer,” Andre Agassi said during the TiE Global Summit 2024 (via Sportstar). “But just because he has the best of all three doesn’t mean he can do what they did. Decision-making, injuries and luck… there are so many things.”
Alcaraz, who finished the 2024 season ranked No. 3 despite two Major triumphs, struggled with his consistency this year. While the 21-year-old won 54 of his 67 tour-level matches, he made several early exits at big tournaments – including his poor run of form during the North American hardcourt swing.
“It’s going to be fun, but let’s not compare Carlos Alcaraz to Big 3”: Roger Federer’s former coach Paul Annacone
Paul Annacone, who coached Roger Federer to his 2012 Wimbledon title, recently said on the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast that Carlos Alcaraz, and his top rival Jannik Sinner, were not as good as the Big 3 at this phase of their respective careers.
“Yeah, that helps, when you see two great champions come on to the stage like Alcaraz and Sinner, with the humility and integrity they have,” Annacone told Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast (27:36) “It’s going to be fun, but let’s not compare them to the Big Three yet.”
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominated the men’s tour this year, taking home two Grand Slam tournament victories each. Moreover, they also met in three high-quality clashes this year (Indian Wells semifinal, Roland Garros semifinal, and the Beijing Open final), all of which were won by the Spaniard.
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Edited by Shirsh
