Carlos Alcaraz: "I always say that my idol is Rafael Nadal but I really want to play like Roger Federer"

Carlos Alcaraz recently expressed his wish to play like Roger Federer on the court even though his idol has always been fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Alcaraz bettered Hungary's Fabian Marozsan in a fourth-round face at the Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday, March 12, to take one step forward in the quest to defend his title. He defeated Marozsan 6-3, 6-3 in less than 90 minutes to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Germany's Alexander Zverev.

After the win over Marozsan, the second seed joined the Tennis Channel desk to answer a few questions posed by hosts Steve Weissman and Prakash Amritraj. Notably, Amritraj praised Alcaraz for his all-court prowess and then asked him to pick any of the past players against whom he would like to compete.

The Spaniard began his reply by confessing his love for Federer.

"I always say that my idol is Rafa but I want to say that I really want to play like Roger, I'm not gonna lie, you know, his style and elegance on the court is something amazing," Carlos Alcaraz said [at 4:21].

The Spaniard then stated that he would cherish a match against the Swiss.

"I've said it many times my game is more similar than Roger's game and I would like to play like him. I would love to play against him, at least once, but yeah, hope to do it," he added.

Notably, Alcaraz turned professional in the year 2018 but he didn't get a chance to play against Federer until the latter called it a day in 2022.

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Carlos Alcaraz: "Indian Wells Masters gave me an extra motivation and extra confident"

Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters

During his press conference after the win over Fabian Marozsan on Tuesday, March 12, Carlos Alcaraz suggested that the Indian Wells has been his happy place over the last couple of years.

"The conditions here suits very well to my game. I feel really comfortable in this court, in this tournament. I feel really well off the court as well. It's really important for the players to feel relaxed, to feel calm off the court. Turn off your mind a little bit, not think about tennis 100 percent of the time," he said.

The Spaniard further acknowledged that the Indian Wells Tennis Garden has always given him the extra stimulus.

"The last three years I have been playing great tennis here. Yeah, I think, in this tournament [Indian Wells Masters] gave me an extra motivation and extra confident," Carlos Alcaraz added.

Alcaraz is on a nine-match winning streak at Tennis Paradise, where he won the title last year by beating Daniil Medvedev in the final.