Andre Agassi believes that Carlos Alcaraz can play like any one of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal “whenever he wants”.
The seven-time major winner set tails wagging on Thursday when he announced he would make his return from a wrist injury at this year’s US Open.
The Spaniard hasn’t played on the ATP Tour since injuring his wrist at the Barcelona Open in mid-April and after he pulled out of the Cincinnati Masters, few predicted he would turn up at Flushing Meadows.
However, the 23-year-old confirmed his US Open appearance as part of a joint post with Fabrizio Romano, with Alcaraz using the football transfer journalist’s famed “Here we go” catchphrase.
And on X, the former world No 1 wrote those same three words, alongside an emoji of the American flag and a plane.
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It remains to be seen how defending champion Alcaraz will fare in New York, and there are also question marks about whether five-time Grand Slam winner Jannik Sinner will turn up, after pulling out of Cincinnati with a knee injury.
There is also a bit of uncertainty around Djokovic, who lost his first match at the final Masters 1000 event before the US Open.
One thing that is beyond any doubt is Alcaraz’s prodigious abilities on the tennis court. Indeed, in Djokovic’s ‘The Wolf in Winter’ documentary, the spotlight fell on the Spaniard’s legendary battle with the Serbian at the 2025 Australian Open.
Despite losing the first set and picking up a muscle tear, the 24-time major winner rolled back the years and went on to claim a remarkable four-set victory.
Although Djokovic got the better of Alcaraz in that instance, all-time great Agassi believes that the world No 3 has shades of the ‘Big 3’ in his game.
The eight-time major winner said in Djokovic’s documentary, “Novak, Roger, and Rafa played this game all so differently and all so great in their own way. And now you see players, specifically Alcaraz, that plays like all three of them whenever he wants. The game does get better.”
Alcaraz does possess a huge amount of variety, something Federer was famed for. He may be as quick as Nadal and as flexible as Djokovic.
This illustrious trio will be better in certain aspects of the game but none of them had won as many majors as Alcaraz at this point in their respective careers. None of them won the career Grand Slam at 22 and many believe he will potentially be a greatest of all time contender. Only time will tell.
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