Carlos Alcaraz has Florida smitten as he defends his Miami Open defence

They love a Hispanic hero in this part of South Florida, and in Carlos Alcaraz they seem to have found another.

Friday afternoon in the early stages of the Miami Open and the crowd was noticeably bloated for the 19-year-old US Open champion’s first appearance. His powerful drives and amazing speed around the baseline were greeted with gasps inside the Dolphins’ renovated NFL stadium.

With almost embarrassing ease, Alcaraz, defending the title he won twelve months ago at the age of 18, ousted the seasoned Argentine player Facundo Bagnis by losing two games in just one hour.

No wonder even the most moderate observers are convinced that a serious disruptor has finally arrived in the era of Djokovic and Nadal.

At some point in the coming months, Alcaraz will brush up against the great duo again and we will know more. Due to a combination of injury absences and Djokovic’s US vaccination ban, they have yet to appear at the same tournament in 2023, but that is likely to happen at the Monte Carlo Open in three weeks’ time.

Alcaraz has already beaten them in successive rounds in the same tournament, last spring in Madrid.

Eurosport analyst and former Swedish great Mats Wilander, not out of hyperbole, was moved to say: “There is a very good chance that Alcaraz will be the one to decide the future history of our game.”

He believes the young Spaniard, one of four brothers from the southern city of Murcia, will have a say in how many Grand Slam titles the great Djokovic and Nadal ultimately win.

“When it comes to different matchups, when Alcaraz is in charge of the rally, he has a lot more options than any tennis player I’ve ever seen except Roger Federer,” Wilander added.

The young Spaniard is a modest guy who smiles a lot and very naturally. He speaks increasingly good English, reflecting his rise to international stardom, but others may be more eloquent in describing what makes him special.

Andy Murray is certainly pleased to have held on long enough to be able to boast a career victory over the player who could dominate the generation that will take on the game. The Scotsman brings a mix of praise and realism to his analysis of the player he beat in Indian Wells eighteen months ago.

Former Swedish great Mats Wilander said Alcaraz could “decide the future history” of tennis

“He has an excellent game that I think will translate well on all surfaces,” Murray observes.

‘He’s not the biggest guy, but he can serve big. He is an incredible engine, a great athlete. He has a lot of variety in his game, he takes the ball a lot.

That’s something you hope he keeps. I know from experience that it’s a little bit easier to play that way when you’re 18 or 19 and there’s no scar tissue there. I hope he keeps up that style of play because it’s exciting to watch.

“So far in his young career, he’s doing better than most of the guys that have come out in the last eight or 10 years. I know a lot of people expect everyone to win more than 20 Grand Slams now, like it’s normal. I wouldn’t predict that for anyone. But I imagine you’ll be on top of the game for as long as you want to play.

Alcaraz jokes with the crowd during a practice session ahead of their final clash of 32 on Sunday

If he were planning what lies ahead, then Italian Jannik Sinner, the 21-year-old world number eleven and a majestic striker, could emerge as the greatest individual challenger in the long run.

The two met in the fourth round of Wimbledon last summer, giving Center Court a glimpse of the future, with the Spaniard winning in four sets.

On Friday, Sinner, a former junior ski champion, described what it’s like to play him: “He knows how to play shot-to-game at every moment,” the Italian said.

“That’s the hardest thing, he can play very strong but he can change every shot and when you play against him he moves so well that you have to push yourself to go to the net because he crosses the baseline and he’s so fast.”

“You think you took a great shot down the line and he gets there.”

The Spaniard is looking to defend his Miami Open crown, having won the tournament last year.

This kind of ability has propelled Alcaraz to number one in the world, although a factor in that has undoubtedly been the enforced absences of Djokovic, whose ban from entering the US is set to expire with a law change coming next year. month.

An equally telling stat is that he became the fastest player to record 100 main tour wins since a young John McEnroe.

One potential cloud is that there may be an injury tendency, as it can affect those with incredible twitch fibers, and he missed the Australian Open earlier this year.

In the immediate future he will try, this coming week, to complete the ‘Double Sun’ of taking the titles in Indian Wells and Miami, and all before he turns 20 in May.