Carlos Alcaraz may not still be on the same trajectory he was a year ago at this time, but he is still very capable of being one of the best tennis players in the history of the sport. Sure, he has not won a tournament since July’s Wimbledon final, but the fact that he is only 20 years old, has two Grand Slam victories, and has been ranked No. 1 speaks volumes about his potential.
But besides his play on tennis courts, he appears to be a self-aware person who understands how to treat other people. This does not appear to be simply him being young and possibly not yet jaded by age. He just seems like a calm guy off the court and respectful of players who are older than he is.
In fact, he rarely gets upset on the court (likely because he is so used to winning still) and this is one reason watching him throw his racket in a semifinal loss to Nicolas Jarry at the Argentina Open was so surprising last week. We rarely see the Spaniard get frustrated by his play. But post-match, he once again answered any questions humbly and with respect.
Andre Agassi was recently a guest on the AO Show Podcast and raved about how when he met the young Spaniard he was blown away by how comfortable Carlos Alcaraz seemed by just being himself. According to Agassi, “(Alcaraz is) just so easy to like even from a distance and then meeting him, his spirit is so warm. I mean his smile is like, it lights you up so just watching him sort of capture the imagination of the public, I’m guilty as charged, I’m a fan.
“He’s just so authentic, so real, so sort of beyond his years. I mean you shouldn’t be that comfortable in your own skin at 20 years old, I know I wasn’t. But yeah, watching him, doesn’t matter if he’s winning or losing, you can’t tell.”
We should hope that Alcaraz maintains that kind of attitude. Life has a way of taking a person who is naturally welcoming and turning them into one who is a bit more distrustful, especially if they pay attention to all the hate on social media. Let’s hope Alcaraz mostly stays away from that toxic environment.
Speaking of a toxic environment, in a recently deleted post on X, Andy Roddick stated he was robbed by a Russian police officer when he was there for Davis Cup play in 2006. According to the post, “I got robbed by a police officer on the street in Russia in 2006 when we were there for Davis Cup. True story. Came up and said how much cash do you have? I said $300… he simply said give it to me or go to jail. I paid it and he went on his way. No emotion.”
Roddick followed that with, “Never went back.” Heck, most of us wouldn’t have either. Cannot blame Roddick for his reaction.
