'Carlos Alcaraz grew up watching them on TV', says top analyst

• Tennis News
• Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz revealed that Nick Kyrgios sent him a message after his US Open title prediction turned out to be correct. Kyrgios, who left the US Open after losing to Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals, singled out Alcaraz as the favorite for the tournament title even before he was beaten.

On Sunday, Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud in the US Open final to become a Grand Slam champion at the age of 19. Shortly after Alcaraz's win, Kyrgios texted the 19-year-old saying that he had told him what was going to happen.

"Honestly, I check the Instagram DM. I saw the message from Nick Kyrgios. I didn't read the whole message, but I did read that it said, 'I told you so,'" Alcaraz said. When reporters told Alcaraz of Kyrgios's prediction, he was visibly stunned, calling it "crazy" that the Australian chose him as the favorite for the US Open title.

Additionally, Alcaraz said that he felt Kyrgios was among the top favorites for the US Open title. "For me (it is) crazy that Kyrgios says that I am the favorite or that I am going to win the tournament. I would say that he is also one of the favorites.

He has the level. He would say that he is more serious off the track. I would say he plays unbelievably. Everybody knows. Yes, he is one of the favorites to win the tournament too," Alcaraz said. After Kyrgios beat Daniil Medvedev and Frances Tiafoe turned Rafael Nadal around, many assumed that Kyrgios and Alcaraz would meet in the final.

Alcaraz managed to get out of his part of the draw, but Kyrgios did not after suffering a shock loss to Khachanov.

Alcaraz won his first ever Grand Slam tournament

Special consultant for the daily newspaper L'Équipe throughout the fortnight of the US Open, Mats Wilander tried to dissect what makes Carlos Alcaraz an already very special player.

And according to the Swede, the 19-year-old Spaniard is a combination of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. “Carlos is the product of Roger (Federer), Rafa (Nadal) and Novak (Djokovic). He grew up watching them on TV. He takes from Rafa the passion and love of competition.

He gets his artistic side from Roger, the drop shots, the serve and volley, etc. And he takes from Novak his flexibility and his quality of movement. I'm not sure he moves better than Novak, but he's faster. Despite everything, his passion is different from that of Rafa: he fights with a smile.

We had never seen that! Maybe with Gustavo Kuerten, but differently… He tries more amortizations than any great player has ever tried. Truly, he is the product of a sport that belongs to Roger, Rafa and Novak. I thought Stefanos Tsitsipas could be that product. Carlos Alcaraz took it even further."