Former world no. 1 and multiple Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander made an astounding claim about Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard’s thumping win over Miomir Kecmanovic in the round of 16 encounter of the 2024 Australian Open.
Alcaraz defeated Kecmanovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 without much trouble and stormed into the quarters of the slam where he will take on Germany’s Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old played some of the best shots, particularly forehands, as he stunned the Serbian in straight sets, giving him no chance to get in the driving seat for once.
Alcaraz was praised for his dominant display in the last 16 match and Wilander went on to say that the Spaniard has the best forehand “of all time”.
He [Carlos Alcaraz] has the best forehand of all time,” Wilander told Eurosport. “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.”
The Swedish star praised Alcaraz’s ability to hit a forehand with so much precision and accuracy that his opponents don’t expect such level of tennis on the court, especially in the third or fourth set, when the energy is usually low.
“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.”