Carlos Alcaraz the ‘closest’ to Roger Federer as Chris Evert assesses Spanish sensation’s growing legacy ahead of French Open 2025 final
Published 08/06/2025 at 14:40 GMT+1
Carlos Alcaraz has a collection of Grand Slam titles, has been ranked No. 1 in the world and, at just 22 years old, has plenty of time left to inch towards the status of being one of the best players to play the game. TNT Sports expert and former French Open winner Chris Evert knows who the Spaniard reminds her of - and it might not be who you expect.
'He's the closest player to Roger Federer' - Evert compares Alcaraz to tennis legend
Video credit: TNT Sports
Carlos Alcaraz has long been touted as the natural heir to Rafael Nadal.
Both are Spanish, both excel on clay and both play an aggressive brand of tennis that is eye-catching in its brilliance.
Not only that, but Alcaraz is developing what could be a decade-long rivalry with Jannik Sinner, much as Nadal had his own rivalry with Roger Federer, and later Novak Djokovic.
But while Sinner perhaps has elements of Djokovic’s metronomic efficiency to his game, Alcaraz is cut from a different cloth.
And yet for all the Nadal comparisons, Chris Evert believes the Spaniard is far more like a different great.
"He plays with a permanent smile on his face, a permanent smile off the court as well," Evert explained.
"He is there to entertain. I personally think he likes to entertain himself with these shots.
"He has flair very much like Roger Federer. He's the closest player to Federer when it comes to the flair, the finesse. He's really quite incredible, and it's just a joy to watch him play."
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'They'd be favourite to beat Nadal at his best' - McEnroe on Sinner and Alcaraz
Video credit: TNT Sports
Federer and Alcaraz never played a professional match, even though their careers just about overlapped.
The Swiss great could do incredible things on a tennis court - pulling winners out of impossible positions, with a touch around the court that not many could rival.
Alcaraz certainly can do likewise, even if his temperament remains slightly more up and down than Federer’s was at any point in his career.
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But even when his level drops, Alcaraz is still seen sporting a smile - often finding his own dips in form funny rather than frustrating.
"Alcaraz is just a breath of fresh air from the stress and the nerves that comes with tennis," Tim Henman added.
"When you are in those biggest moments, I think he has the ability to sort of maintain the perspective on the sport, and that gives him the freedom to go for these shots.
"As he gets to the business end of the tournament and his opponents get tougher, that's when his intensity, his focus, his concentration is better."
Where Alcaraz will wind up only time will tell, but with Grand Slam titles to his name across all three surfaces, and only the Australian Open missing from the Spaniard’s trophy cabinet, it seems sure he will be a dominant force in men’s tennis for many years to come.
Djokovic leads the way on the men’s side with 24 major titles, Nadal has 22 and Federer 20 Grand Slams.
Sinner might have a thing to say about how many titles Alcaraz winds up with, as those two seem set to be the next great rivalry in men’s tennis, one era seamlessly blending into the next.
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