Murray: 'Watching Alcaraz play tennis makes me smile'

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Shortly after Carlos Alcaraz won his opening match at the Miami Open presented by Itau Saturday, another player took to social media.

Andy Murray wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Watching Alcaraz play tennis makes me smile 😊❤️”

Watching Alcaraz play tennis makes me smile 😊❤️

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) March 24, 2024

Murray has reached the highest peak in the sport, climbing to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He has won 46 tour-level titles, including the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals crown and three major trophies. It speaks volumes that Alcaraz has earned such respect from the 36-year-old. 

“It’s great. As I’ve said many times, I play for myself, I play for my team. But also I enjoy if the people enjoy watching my matches, my games. For me, it's pretty cool,” Alcaraz said. “ I think for me it's even better if a legend like Andy says something like this, that he enjoys a lot watching my matches. It's crazy for me, honestly.

“I think he has seen a lot of tennis during his career, a lot of matches, a lot of players. [To] see these words from him for me is great. It's something I try to do in every match.”

Murray’s love of Alcaraz’s game is not new. The Scot thought the Spaniard had big potential from early on.

In 2021, Murray predicted that Alcaraz could one day reach World No. 1. That proved prophetic.

“Of the current ones, Medvedev would be the guy I would expect to get there first. I think maybe he will need to be a little bit more consistent on the clay to get there, but I think he’s got a good chance,” Murray said at the time. “From the young, young ones, I think [Carlos] Alcaraz is really, really good. I think he’s got a good chance at it.”

Both Murray and Alcaraz are still alive in the Miami draw. They cannot meet until the final.