Roger Federer on Carlos Alcaraz being a mix of him, Rafael Nadal & Novak Djokovic: "It’s not fair to say that"

Roger Federer has shared his perspective on Carlos Alcaraz being described as possessing a combination of skills from himself, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Federer was recently honored as the first-ever international 'Icon Athlete' at the 2023 Shanghai Masters. While at the event, the Swiss legend also featured on the latest episode of the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.

During a conversation about Carlos Alcaraz's early exit from the ATP Masters 1000 event, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was asked whether he believed the Spaniard to be a unique blend of himself, Nadal and Djokovic, as many have suggested.

In response, the 42-year-old acknowledged that he had observed certain elements in Alcaraz's game that bore a resemblance to both his and Nadal's playing styles.

"Yeah, yeah. I mean, for sure. I see, I mean, a bit of the power obviously on the forehand side, Rafa’s style a little bit. Maybe also mine, like you say, more the technique maybe from me potentially. Obviously you see the dropshot, you see he’s using slice, he can play from back like Rafa can," he said at 39:20 on the 'Roger Federer Exclusive Plus Reaction To Shanghai' episode.

The former World No. 1 also drew a comparison between Alcaraz and Djokovic's defensive prowess, while also recognizing that the Serb was in a league of his own.

"And then he’s got obviously some defensive skills that rival Novak’s but Novak’s obviously at an elite level because when you do it for so many years, you stand alone basically. Like Rafa on clay and all that," he said.

"Those defensive are I mean basically second to none but if Carlos keeps on doing it, we’ll speak even more about him and even more higher and he’s got the potential to do that. It’s just important to stay injury free and all that stuff," he added.

However, while Federer acknowledged that the Spaniard may possess a combination of his, Nadal and Djokovic's skills, he emphasized that making such a comparison was unfair on the 20-year-old.

"Maybe there’s a combination but it’s also not fair to say that because Carlos is Carlos, like Novak is Novak and Rafa is Rafa. I don’t like it when there is just too many comparisons, I like when they stand alone," he said.

Roger Federer: "I heard that Carlos Alcaraz was staying in my locker room, but as he's not around I'm happy to have it again"

Roger Federer

During his campaign at the 2023 Shanghai Masters, Carlos Alcaraz was assigned the locker room that belonged to Roger Federer for 12 years. The Spaniard crashed out of the ATP Masters 1000 event in the fourth round after suffering a defeat to Grigor Dimitrov.

Upon his arrival in Shanghai for the felicitation ceremony, Federer toured the stadium and reminisced about his playing days as he met the current crop of players, including Andrey Rublev.

While visiting his former locker room, the 20-time Grand Slam champion expressed his satisfaction at having the facilities to himself after Alcaraz's exit from the tournament.

"So here we're heading down the tunnel of all the locker rooms. I heard that Alcaraz was staying in my locker room this year. But, as he is not around anymore, I got it back, so I am sorry for him. But I am happy to have my own locker room again," he said.