Henman discovers the 'new' Alcaraz

Fernando Murciego | 17 Oct 2025 | 19.30

Tim Henman impressed after meeting with Carlos Alcaraz. Source: Getty

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Carlos Alcaraz is the best player of the 2025 season, much better even than his previous versions. A level-up that Tim Henman himself, his vice-captain in the last Laver Cup, discovered through daily coexistence with him.

It wasn't the main topic to discuss these days at the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition tournament held once again in Riyadh, but Tim Henman, a regular commentator in the media, wanted to make a brief note about an anecdote lived with Carlos Alcaraz this summer. His relationship with the World No. 1 was strengthened in San Francisco thanks to a week of many shared moments within Team Europe, one of the two teams of the Laver Cup. What did the Brit discover? Nothing specific, but something very generic, as he expressed in statements collected by the Tennis 365.

"I shared a lot of quality time with him in this last Laver Cup, and honestly, I couldn't have been more impressed with what I saw, both in the player sphere and in the personal sphere. His attitude, his energy, his values on and off the court, absolutely everything matched the patterns of a first-class athlete. That's when I confirmed that Carlos has raised the bar, hence he has developed that impressive tennis in recent months; we are facing a phenomenon," confessed Henman, who was amazed to see the genius from El Palmar firsthand.

- Tim Henman compares Carlos Alcaraz with the Big3

What did Herman see that amazed him so much? It could have been something related to his training, perhaps his nutrition. It may point to something more personal, like the way he deals with his team, or maybe with those outside, which says as much or more about you. What is evident is that the Brit left San Francisco with a very different idea of Carlos. Where he expected to find a 22-year-old kid living a dream, what he actually found was a privileged mind that has started to chart every step of his career with absolute awareness. Hence, at his age, he is already sitting at the table of the greats.

"In certain aspects, the fact that Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have won 20, 22, and 24 Grand Slams in their careers has led to a disproportionate comparison for the rest of the players. Even with players like Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, or Jimmy Connors, who were great legends. Now we have Carlos, who at such a young age already has six Grand Slams, but people ask him if he will reach 20, which is unfair," says Henman, always advocating for young players, trying to free them from those burdens of unnecessary pressure.

The former World No. 4 doesn't care if Alcaraz ends up surpassing Novak Djokovic or not, to give an extreme example. In fact, these kinds of predictions don't lead anywhere, since not even the players were able to predict the golden era we have had this century. "In all honesty, in the era when Pete Sampras was playing and reached 14 Grand Slams, I would have bet my last dollar that no one in history would surpass those 14. Years later, three players did it, so we will see how many Alcaraz and Sinner achieve," he concludes.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Henman descubre al ‘nuevo’ Alcaraz