"Carlos Alcaraz turns impossible into possible, water into wine, air into gold" - Andy Murray's ex-coach confers new 'Alchemist' nickname on Spaniard

Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey recently gave the nickname "The Alchemist" to Carlos Alcaraz after his heroics contributed to Team Europe winning the 2024 Laver Cup. In what was the seventh edition of the Laver Cup, and Team Europe thwarted Team World's bid for a third consecutive title.

Alcaraz kicked off his campaign at the Laver Cup by teaming up with Alexander Zverev for a doubles match against Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton on Day 1, but lost 7-6(5), 6-4. On Day 2, the Spaniard faced off against Ben Shelton in a singles match and won 6–4, 6–4.

The final day saw Carlos Alcaraz join forces with Casper Ruud to overcome Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe with a score of 6-2, 7-6(6) to win a point for Team Europe. The last match of the day, a singles match, was crucial for both the teams as a win in that meant winning the title.

In the end, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Taylor Fritz 6–2, 7–5 to clinch both the match and the 2024 Laver Cup title.

During a recent episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Mark Petchey discussed Carlos Alcaraz's pivotal role in the Laver Cup and how his exceptional performance propelled Team Europe to victory.

Petchey explained that he dubbed Alcaraz "The Alchemist" because of his ability to transform the "impossible into the possible," turning "water into wine," and "air into gold."

“I’ve decided to call him The Alchemist. Alcaraz, he just turns you know, the impossible into possible, he turns water into wine, he turns air into gold. You name it, the guy can transform a tennis match into either a spectacle that we can just watch his greatness and do the things he does that a very few players can or turn an event like that [the 2024 Laver Cup] absolutely on its head,” Petchey said [6:25].

Reflecting on the doubles match where Alcaraz and Ruud defeated Shelton and Tiafoe, Petchey commended Alcaraz for his stellar performance, noting that he played a crucial role in helping Ruud during the match.

“The way that he came out on Sunday and then carried Casper [Ruud] through, I wanna say through the first probably 15-20 minutes. Casper had to save a break-point in his opening service game. Had that gone against them that would have been interesting. But Casper played phenomenal once he got through that little period and a lot of that obviously was down to Carlos but it also just reiterated how great Casper is,” he added [6:53].

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Carlos Alcaraz on winning Laver Cup 2024: “Very happy about reaching our goal, it’s great”

Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Laver Cup [Source: Getty]

During the post-match on-court interview following his win over Taylor Fritz on Day 3 of the 2024 Laver Cup, Carlos Alcaraz expressed that it was a "great" feeling, winning the title. He said that the team had entered the tournament with the sole objective of claiming the cup and was "very happy" that they were able to achieve it.

Alcaraz credited Alexander Zverev for securing a crucial win just before his own triumph over Fritz, which helped Team Europe secure the title.

“It’s great. Obviously we came here with a goal, to win the Laver Cup. We are very, very happy about reaching our goal . We almost lost, but Sascha [Alexander Zverev] came with really good tennis and gave me the chance to win.” Alcaraz said.

Currently, Carlos Alcaraz is in Beijing, competing in the 2024 China Open. He defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round and is scheduled to face Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.