Who would've been the worst matchup for Alcaraz in their peak?

Who would've done the best against Alcaraz?

  • Peak Novak 2011-2015

    Votes: 22 20.0%

  • Peak Nadal 2008-2013

    Votes: 20 18.2%

  • Peak Roger 2004-2007

    Votes: 40 36.4%

  • Peak Pete

    Votes: 10 9.1%

  • Peak Agassi

    Votes: 6 5.5%

  • All of the above

    Votes: 12 10.9%
  • Total voters
    110
B

btsjungkook

Professional
So many greats in the open era, but who would've been the worst match up for tiny Carlos in their peak prime years? I'd say Federer and Djokovic would've troubled him as they both take the ball on the rise and their ball striking was powerful back then. Nadal could've also troubled him a lot with his passing shots when he comes to the net. What do you guys think?
 
LeftyMagic

LeftyMagic

Rookie
prime nadal would be there for sure, but when fed played that brutal attacking style with variation…i dont see carlos getting lots of free looks at slow baseline groundstrokes where he swings for the fence
 
B

btsjungkook

Professional
buscemi said:
Agassi. We see the problems that players who hit cleanly and take the ball early cause for him. Agassi is basically the king of both.
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This. Sinner is the only next gen player causing him this much trouble and he's not very consistent. Imagine Agassi or Nole in their peak, they were consistent and hit the ball early and their backhands were lethal especially Novak's bhdtl shot.
 
S

Sampras-Bruguera 1993

Legend
Fedal equally would have tore him apart. Nadal due to the moonball topspin to the corner and Fed due to his mix/match play always keeping the kid guessing. Nole is a little more straight forward so he has his chances there. Essentially all 3 are a nightmare for him.. Hes not used to dealing with that level consistently. He is used to trash like Rune or Ruud . LOL
 
Mike Sams

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
Fedal equally would have tore him apart. Nadal due to the moonball topspin to the corner and Fed due to his mix/match play always keeping the kid guessing. Nole is a little more straight forward so he has his chances there. Essentially all 3 are a nightmare for him.. Hes not used to dealing with that level consistently
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You mean the Federer that got straight setted by Robredo at USO 2013???
Or the Nadal that got smacked around by Fognini at USO 2015???
Alcaraz is going to be torn apart by these guys? You gotta be kidding me!
 
Mike Sams

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
The big 3 would all be in trouble against Alcaraz.
If Dominic Thiem could inflict that amount of damage on the big 3 then Alcaraz would do the same.
 
B

btsjungkook

Professional
Mike Sams said:
You mean the Federer that got straight setted by Robredo at USO 2013???
Or the Nadal that got smacked around by Fognini at USO 2015???
Alcaraz is going to be torn apart by these guys? You gotta be kidding me!
Click to expand...
Sinner has little to no variety in his play but he seems to struggle the most against him. I think he tends to struggle against players who can out hit him.
 
dr. godmode

dr. godmode

Hall of Fame
we've seen Alcy struggle against old man fractured rib Nadal I can't imagine him having an easy time against PeakDal. I also can't see him enjoying returning against Fed's spot serving or having to deal with his epic slice backhand.
 
S

Sampras-Bruguera 1993

Legend
The only thing that truly troubled Fed was Nadal's topspin lefty moonball. Its like Nadal was created to be Fed's achilles heel in the universe. Carlos doesn't have that. Hes not a lefty and he doesn't have that topspin. There is NOTHING in Carlos' game that would trouble Fed. His Serve Sucks so Fed will break him EASY, , Fed will counteract the dropshots,, and he will win the forehand battle as his forehand was better than Carlos'. Backhand battle Carlos will win but it isn't enough. Carlos is also too error prone right now to handle Fed. You aren't going to beat Fed trying to get fancy with low percentage tennis
 
ghostofMecir

ghostofMecir

Legend
buscemi said:
Agassi. We see the problems that players who hit cleanly and take the ball early cause for him. Agassi is basically the king of both.
Click to expand...

Yes, but he doesn’t have a serve advantage. Peak Federer we’ll take away his time and then would also have the serve advantage.
 
L

Lauren_Girl'

Hall of Fame
Surely not Nadal. Nadal would've struggled a lot against THIS Alcaraz and his 2-handed backhand and power. We had a small sample in Madrid last year. Alcaraz had a nasty fall in the start of the 2nd and tanked the set, but the rest of the match wasn't even close tbh. Alcaraz owned him in the other 2 sets. I get that Nadal wasn't "in his peak" but Alcaraz was still nowhere near his current level either.... Nadal wasn't injured in that match, his foot let him down in Rome against Shapovalov. He was healthy and he got smashed fair and square. Even Norrie and a rusty, unfit Djokovic pushed Alcaraz harder than Nadal in that tournament.
 
Phenomenal

Phenomenal

Professional
Lauren_Girl' said:
Surely not Nadal. Nadal would've struggled a lot against THIS Alcaraz and his 2-handed backhand and power. We had a small sample in Madrid last year. Alcaraz had a nasty fall in the start of the 2nd and tanked the set, but the rest of the match wasn't even close tbh. Alcaraz owned him in the other 2 sets. I get that Nadal wasn't "in his peak" but Alcaraz was still nowhere near his current level either.... Nadal wasn't injured in that match, his foot let him down in Rome against Shapovalov. He was healthy and he got smashed fair and square. Even Norrie and a rusty, unfit Djokovic pushed Alcaraz harder than Nadal in that tournament.
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In Madrid Nadal was atleast step slower than his usual in 2022. He wasn't injured but he was returning from the injury so Madrid was his first tournament since IW. Just watch their IW and compare Nadal's movement. He was moving clearly better in RG and IW than Madrid last year.

And You are comparing that Nadal to Prime Nadal LOL...
 
S

Sampras-Bruguera 1993

Legend
Ok... Lets keep this simple for the mentally challenged.. Ready???


Cant handled Old man Djokovic.................................. Can't handle any of Peak Big 3 equally

Wow.. Real difficult LOL

Soon you'll be learning your A,B,C's :rolleyes:
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
Alcaraz is yet to peak, so this is too early to speculate.

Current Alcaraz would lose to all the Big 3 peak for peak but he will beat all the Big 3's 19-20 yr old versions, except Nadal on Clay.
 
L

Lauren_Girl'

Hall of Fame
Phenomenal said:
In Madrid Nadal was atleast step slower than his usual in 2022. He wasn't injured but he was returning from the injury so Madrid was his first tournament since IW. Just watch their IW and compare Nadal's movement. He was moving clearly better in RG and IW than Madrid last year.

And You are comparing that Nadal to Prime Nadal LOL...
Click to expand...

Clearly not prime Nadal but as I said, Alcaraz wasn't at his current level either. Was still too inconsistent (and a bit injured after his fall in the 2nd set, btw)

Madrid was still between 2 Slams Nadal won. Not his prime, but he was healthy, in form and playing well. In IW against Fritz he had a broken rib and in Rome it was the foot, but nothing was wrong in Madrid. I rewatched the full match a couple of months ago and Iike I said, the 1st and 3rd sets were not close at all. Reminded me a lot of Nadal's matchs against Djokovic in Madrid and Rome 2011... similar kind of rallies. We will never know but I think it's clear peak Nadal would've struggled against the current version of Alcaraz.
 
S

Sampras-Bruguera 1993

Legend
Razer said:
Alcaraz currently is younger than what Nole was during the AO 2008.

USO 2007 Nole is comparable to current Alcaraz but then Alcaraz is a Wimbledon Champion..... that is no joke.... So he is better overall.
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Tough to say.. Safin was peak in 08 in that match. When Safin peaks bad things happen. Nole as also the only one to take Peak 08 Nadal to a TB at RG
 
Phenomenal

Phenomenal

Professional
Lauren_Girl' said:
Clearly not prime Nadal but as I said, Alcaraz wasn't at his current level either. Was still too inconsistent (and a bit injured after his fall in the 2nd set, btw)

Madrid was still between 2 Slams Nadal won. Not his prime, but he was healthy, in form and playing well. In IW against Fritz he had a broken rib and in Rome it was the foot, but nothing was wrong in Madrid. I rewatched the full match a couple of months ago and Iike I said, the 1st and 3rd sets were not close at all. Reminded me a lot of Nadal's matchs against Djokovic in Madrid and Rome 2011... similar kind of rallies. We will never know but I think it's clear peak Nadal would've struggled against the current version of Alcaraz.
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Simply no. Nadal was not in form he was just recovering. Also saved MP earlier round than Alcaraz. It was his first tournament didn't played MC Barcelona after IW.

He even himself said that He needs to ready for RG as his main goal more than Madrid before his meeting against Alcaraz. No need to continue. Doesn't matter he won RG after. Because he recovered his movement. By the way as far as i remember Nadal was moving well in Rome before his injury his play was also good.

Then why Nadal won in IW against Alcaraz who won Miami next week?

While Alcaraz's current level is better for me Nadal's movement difference was higher and more important thing.

You would have understand this had it been Djokovic since you follow him closely.
 
Razer

Razer

Legend
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
Tough to say.. Safin was peak in 08 in that match. When Safin peaks bad things happen. Nole as also the only one to take Peak 08 Nadal to a TB at RG
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Well Safin was not peak in 08 but at the same time Novak was 21 during wimbledon 2008.

Alcaraz will be 21 next year, a lot can happen in 1 year, next year we will see Alcaraz even more dangerous and quicker? It is possible, so without seeing peak Alcaraz it is too early to speculate.
 
Hitman

Hitman

Bionic Poster
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
Well.. Pete is an issue for everyone unless you beat him at his own game. (Stich, Kraijeck etc)
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Yep. The thing with the big 3 is, as great as they are, they will still allow Alcaraz to play his game somewhat. Pete's whole game plan was to always make sure you had no time to play your game, and we have seen how a guy like Sinner can hurt Carlos by easily taking his time away.
 
Mike Sams

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
Carlos can't even handle grandad Nole. Come on.. A prime/peak 3 would tear him a 2nd set of horse teeth :oops:
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Not sure what you mean. Alcaraz beat Djokovic at Wimbledon. Djokovic today would still be a nightmare to deal with against anyone in history. He's still a baseline machine except with a better serve and stronger net game than prior. A bit slower footspeed and less endurance but still tough as hell.
 
NoleFam

NoleFam

Bionic Poster
Based on Federer's history with Nadal, he would have had the most trouble with Alcaraz out of the big 3 imo because of that speed and defense to offense. He's even more offensive than Nadal plus he would just hammer Federer's backhand like Nadal did. I think Djokovic and Nadal would have had their hands full as well but I think would have been better matchups against him in their primes. Djokovic even at 36 is a lot for Alcaraz to handle. Hard to say about Agassi and Sampras but I lean toward him mostly getting the best of Agassi because Alcaraz is a better athlete. Sampras would have been tougher for him especially on faster surfaces.
 
Last edited:
S

Sampras-Bruguera 1993

Legend
Mike Sams said:
Not sure what you mean. Alcaraz beat Djokovic at Wimbledon. Djokovic today would still be a nightmare to deal with against anyone in history. He's still a baseline machine except with a better serve and stronger net game than prior. A bit slower footspeed and less endurance but still tough as hell.
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Only because Djokovic fell multiple times and slipped and wind messed his game up (like the murray US Open match, Nole doesn't deal well with wind ) or else Carlos would have lost that one too just like he did Cincy against Nole
 
Incognito

Incognito

Legend
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
Only because Djokovic fell multiple times and slipped and wind messed his game up (like the murray US Open match, Nole doesn't deal well with wind ) or else Carlos would have lost that one too just like he did Cincy against Nole
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Theres always these excuses. Should I say djoke was lucky at the FO Carlos cramped?
 
B

btsjungkook

Professional
Sampras-Bruguera 1993 said:
Only because Djokovic fell multiple times and slipped and wind messed his game up (like the murray US Open match, Nole doesn't deal well with wind ) or else Carlos would have lost that one too just like he did Cincy against Nole
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You can argue that if Novak didn't mess up that second set tiebreaker on set point, he'd won in 3 sets and possibly a calendar year slam this year at 36 years old. Alcaraz was this close to not winning one slam this year at the 2nd set tiebreaker.
 
droliver

droliver

Professional
buscemi said:
Agassi. We see the problems that players who hit cleanly and take the ball early cause for him. Agassi is basically the king of both.
Click to expand...
Agassi's movement and defense would be huge liabilities in that match up. He just didn't cover the court laterally the way players now have to, and Alcaraz might be the new bar for that.
 
nolefam_2024

nolefam_2024

Talk Tennis Guru
Peak Nadal seems like the most right answer. Peak Djokovic close second.

I don't think fed is stopping Carlito. He would choke same types like he choked vs Nole. There is actually no doubt in my mind.
 
B

btsjungkook

Professional
nachiket nolefam said:
Peak Nadal seems like the most right answer. Peak Djokovic close second.

I don't think fed is stopping Carlito. He would choke same types like he choked vs Nole. There is actually no doubt in my mind.
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I dunno. Carlos seems to struggle against players who can take the ball early and be aggressive like Sinner. His forehand on the run when rushed doesn't seem to be that good for now. Maybe it'll improve when he peaks.
 
nolefam_2024

nolefam_2024

Talk Tennis Guru
btsjungkook said:
I dunno. Carlos seems to struggle against players who can take the ball early and be aggressive like Sinner. His forehand on the run when rushed doesn't seem to be that good for now. Maybe it'll improve when he peaks.
Click to expand...
Every player struggles vs Nadal's topspin including Djokovic. Alcaraz is no better than Djokovic on HC in fact his height is 2 inches shorter. Nadal calls different sets of questions than virtually anyone in history of tennis due to lefty topspin forehand. Alcaraz would be annihilated on clay worse than Djokovic.

Vs Fed alcaraz can still have hopes. He is mentally strong and has a great backhand that can easily hang vs Federer's slice and topspin combination of backhands.
 
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