Caught off guard: Carlos Alcaraz replies to Joao Fonseca’s forehand rankings

Fonseca, when asked for his opinion, included Alcaraz alongside Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini, and himself in his top forehands on the tour.

Alcaraz acknowledged the list but made a couple of changes, adding different names to reflect his preferences.

“That’s tricky, but at the same time it’s a really good list. A pretty good list from João! I don’t know… I could put Andrey Rublev somewhere in the list.”

“Right now, I could change Tsitsipas for Felix Auger, for example. I just love Felix Auger’s forehand. And the rest is pretty good. Berrettini is on it, right? He’s fourth?”

The Spaniard also gave some recognition to his own forehand as one of the best on tour.

“So the list is pretty full. I would say Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger should be around there. But yeah… I could feel myself at first place!”

The only meeting between Alcaraz and Fonseca so far came at this year’s Miami Open, where Alcaraz came out on top.

Joao Fonseca tipped to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

The teenager earned his spot in the quarter-finals by beating Berrettini convincingly, giving him a close-up look at one of the game’s rising stars – and he seemed to agree with much of what others are saying about Fonseca’s future.

Speaking after their match in Monte-Carlo Masters press conference via L’Equipe, Berrettini said: “In my opinion, he has all the potential to be one.”

“Now, whether he’s going to win 20 Grand Slams, 10 Grand Slams, I don’t know. But he’s a player who, fundamentally, has no weak points.

“He hits the ball really well, he moves well, he serves well, he fights, he has clear potential to really be the ‘third guy’.”