Andy Roddick marvels at Carlos Alcaraz's ability to make opponents play outside their comfort zone

Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick heaped praise on Carlos Alcaraz after his performance against Borna Coric in the semifinals of the 2023 Madrid Open. Alcaraz booked his place in the final of the Masters 1000 tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Croat, putting in a sound display that earned laurels from Roddick.

While speaking on Tennis Channel, the 2003 US Champion hailed the Spaniard's shot selection and stated that he never looked dumb while playing the drop shot, something which could not be said for others.

"Even if you have a great game plan and your coach is talking to you the whole time, you still have to make the right choice on shot selection. It feels like he never looks dumb playing a drop shot which is not a realistic thing for any of us," Roddick said.

"Someone who hits a drop shot with the frequency with which he does, normally looks dumb once in a while. We don't say that often at all and it's one of the most dominant shots in tennis," he added.

Andy Roddick also praised Carlos Alcaraz's ability to force Borna Coric play out of his comfort zone and make unforced errors, noting that that's what great players did.

"The second thing that's so impressive is, we saw in that highlight, it looks like Coric is making unforced errors and Petko (Andrea Petkovic) referenced it, but it's a cumulative effect," Roddick said.

"We see and miss a ball in the middle of a court that's deep, but that's because he's been out there for an hour and 20 minutes, and he's realizing that 'That might be the best ball I hit in this entire rally. I have to force the issue on a ball that I don't want to', and that's what the greats make you do. Play outside of your comfort zone, make bad decisions and make you attack from places and with shots you don't want to," he added.

Carlos Alcaraz will face Jan-Lennard Struff in the Madrid Open final

Carlos Alcaraz in action at the Madrid Open

Carlos Alcaraz will now face Jan-Lennard Struff in the final of the Madrid Open. The German lost in the qualifiers of the tournament before making it to the main draw as a lucky loser.

Struff beat Lorenzo Sonego, Ben Shelton, Dusan Lajovic, Pedro Cachin, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Aslan Karatsev to reach his maiden Masters 1000 final. Alcaraz and the German will face each other for the third time on the ATP Tour, with their head-to-head currently tied at 1-1.