Exclusive: Andy Murray reveals admiration for Carlos Alcaraz - 'What he has done this year has been special'
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Updated 01/11/2022 at 08:09 GMT
Carlos Alcaraz has been the standout player among the next generation in 2022, a feat recognised by Andy Murray. Murray, at 35 and now at the opposite end of the career spectrum, however, denied being surprised by the arrival of a number of younger players, insisting that "this is what should be happening", rather than the continuing dominance of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
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Andy Murray has hailed world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz's performances in 2022, describing them as "special" and "incredible".
Spanish teenager Alcaraz ascended to the top spot following his win at the US Open, his first major triumph which came after a number of other remarkable tournament displays this year.
Murray, however, was keen to caveat the emergence of Alcaraz - and other members of the so-called 'next gen' - with the absence of Novak Djokovic from two Slams in 2022, following the Serbian's problems accessing Australia and the US due to his Covid-19 unvaccinated status.
And Murray implied that he might have expected the youngsters' breakouts to happen sooner, rather than the ongoing stronghold on the game's top honours created by Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who own 43 majors between them.
In an exclusive conversation with Eurosport, Murray said: "I think what Alcaraz has done this year has been special.
"I think also, what's happened in the last few years - and yes, there is always going to be a time when a generation passes or comes to the end of their career - but some of the results have been aided by Novak not being able to play in Australia this year.
"He didn't play at the US Open either and arguably is still the best player in the world. And I think that has also influenced some of the results a little bit.
"The best guys are getting older and are playing much less. They're not competing in all of the tournaments and it's giving opportunities now for all of the other players.
"The generation that's like 25 to 28 years old, they were still competing against Novak, Roger [Federer] and Rafa when they were in their early 20s. That's not happened so much with the younger generation and they're taking advantage of it and playing great tennis.
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"Like I said, for me, Alcaraz has had an incredible year. I think [Stefanos] Tsitsipas has done extremely well, Felix [Auger-Aliassime] is potentially going to win three weeks in a row [in Florence, Antwerp and Basel] and is starting to make a big push as well.
"This is - to me - what should be happening. This is normal now, what's happening."
Regarding his own year, which has seen him move slowly but surely up the ATP rankings, Murray was less effusive in his praise but is targeting a good training block in the off-season and a strong start to 2023.
Murray said: "It [2022] has been OK. It's not been amazing, but I also started the year ranked 134 in the world and now I'm in the top 50.
"For most players, if they make a jump like that, that's really positive. I've progressed well this year, but it's not to the level that I would like. I would have liked to have done better.
"But I want to do and play better than what I have done this year.
"And hopefully, I can start that here [at the Paris Masters] but also put in good weeks of training in the off-season to try and make some improvements because if I want to compete with the young guys now that are playing so well, I'll need to do that."
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