Carlos Alcaraz has been left red-faced failing to answer a simple question after his brutal dispatching of Serbian world No.60 Miomir Kecmanović in their fourth-round Australian Open clash on Monday night.
Alcaraz was at his sublime best at Melbourne Park to progress through to the quarter finals with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 win in just under two hours.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Carlos Alcaraz fumbles over WTA question at Australian Open.
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At 20, the two-time grand slam champion has already become a fan favourite for his infectious smile and positive attitude, so he will be forgiven for one rare misstep.
But he certainly had one on Monday night in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena crowd, who awkwardly laughed when Alcaraz couldn’t come up with a single player on the WTA tour that he liked watching.
During the on-court interview after the match, American tennis legend Jim Courier initially asked Alcaraz if he was a fan of the game outside his own matches; whether he religiously watched his competitors; and who — be it in men’s, women’s or wheelchair tennis — he really loved to sit down and watch.
“I’m a huge fan of tennis; I love to watch every match if I can,” the 2023 Wimbledon champion said with his typical smile.
“But I love watching Daniil (Medvedev), for example. Novak (Djokovic), (Jannik) Sinner as well. Those guys, I like to watch because every time that they step on the court, they put their best level. And as a huge fan of tennis, I like to watch pretty good tennis, high level.
“Those players are the best players in the world — I really like to watch them.”
Noticing that he had only offered male players as some of his favourites, Courier then pressed him for his favourite female stars.
“I’m going to put you on the spot though — what about WTA?” Courier said.
“Well, I watch WTA as well,” Alcaraz said, anything but confidently, before stuttering to a pause.
Sensing the obvious uncertainty in his voice, the crowd couldn’t help but laugh.
Suddenly struggling to find the words to put together a coherent answer, Alcaraz fumbled over the next few moments without naming a single female player.
“No… I mean, when I can, obviously, I turn the TV on, ahh….,” he said before having his voice again drowned out by crowd laughter.
“If it’s WTA, ATP, whatever — I like to watch.”
But for a 20-year-old whose first language is not English, and who can’t have expected the curveball question from one of his idols — not to mention the thousands of foreign eyeballs fixed on him — he can be afforded the benefit of the doubt just this once.
Especially when he is taking the world by storm with his scintillating level of tennis.
After failing to make it past the third round in his previous trips to Melbourne Park, the 20-year-old has shown he is now a definite contender on all surfaces.
“Everything,” Alcaraz quipped when asked what went right against Kecmanovic.
“I did everything almost perfectly.
“It was pretty good match, but I push him to the limit in every ball, every point and he has played a lot of tough matches before this one, so physically he wasn’t at 100 per cent.
“It’s a pleasure to play here in Rod Laver, it’s an amazing court and a very beautiful one.”
Already a two-time grand slam champion after winning the 2022 US Open and last year’s Wimbledon title, Alcaraz looms as a genuine threat to Novak Djokovic’s bid to win a record-breaking 25th major.
Alcaraz is on track to meet Djokovic in a dream final between the future of tennis and an already established legend, in what would be a replay of last year’s Wimbledon final.
But first Alcaraz will have to take care of German sixth seed Alexander Zverev, who survived a five-set epic against Cameron Norrie to progress to his third quarter-final at Melbourne Park.
“Playing at this level I will have my chances … (Zverev) has played tough matches as well, five sets, tiebreakers in the fifth set, so it’s going to be tough for him,” Alcaraz said.
“I love playing against Sasha (Zverev), we bring a high level of tennis, and for the crowd it’s a great match.”
– With AAP
