NEW DELHI: Legendary player Andre Agassi observed that Carlos Alcaraz embodies distinct qualities from Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, while advising the tennis world against anticipating the young Spaniard to match the extraordinary achievements of these tennis legends.
The collective Grand Slam victories of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic stand at 66, whilst Alcaraz, aged 21, has secured four major titles thus far.
"I'm not a genius and I don't have a crystal ball. What I can tell you is Alcaraz defends like Novak, has power and spin like Nadal and has hands and finesse like Federer," said Agassi during a talk session in Bengaluru.
The eight-time Grand Slam victor Agassi elaborated on why excessive expectations shouldn't burden Alcaraz.
"Just because he has the best of all those three doesn't mean he can do what they did because there're so many other parts to the game, which mean decision-making, injuries, you know, luck," he said.
With Djokovic at 37, approaching retirement, Agassi noted that the Serbian's competitive edge might diminish without Nadal and Federer in the arena.
"He's already done so much, so long, and it's hard to imagine longer. I think he'll run out of the energy for it more than the capability of it, I would imagine.
"It cannot be easy, especially when the people you came to the dance with have left."
The American provided additional context to his assessment.
"When Pete (Sampras) retired, it was a blow to me. It set me back a little bit. It made me have to rediscover my inspirations on some level.
"And he's (Djokovic) lost the guys that he's made history with. So, it's probably emotionally going to get tougher and tougher quickly, but I would never bet against him. Bet against him at your own peril," said Agassi.
Regarding Djokovic's recent appointment of Andy Murray as coach to extend his career, Agassi expressed interest in their partnership's development.
"They've been fierce rivals on court, and now Murray will be coaching Djokovic. Well, in any coaching student relationship, you need trust. Trust can take time.
"I think there's an asset to their history as competitors, but any success of a relationship is based on complete buy-in."
