Rafael Nadal excited after he recieved response from Carlos Alcaraz regarding the...

Respected tennis coach and former player Jose Higueras placed Rafael Nadal at the top of his list of Hispanic men’s tennis greats, while he feels Carlos Alcaraz has already earned a spot.

The Spaniard, a former world No 6, also selected Pancho Gonzalez, Manolo Santana and Guillermo Vilas for his ‘Mount Rushmore’ of players of Hispanic descent. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a huge sculpture completed in 1941 depicting the faces of four famous American presidents.

Spanish icon Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, with only his great rival Novak Djokovic having won more in the history of men’s tennis. The Mallorcan legend, who has won 92 singles titles, including an astonishing record 14 French Opens, is considered to be one of the greatest Spanish athletes of all time.

Alcaraz, a Spaniard from Murcia who only turned 20 in May, has already won two Major titles and been ranked world No 1 during a remarkable start to his career.

Santana, another Spaniard – who was born in Madrid – won the French Open twice and Wimbledon and the US Open once each during the 1960s.

Gonzalez was an American player of Mexican descent who won 13 Pro Slam tournaments during the 1950s and 1960s – a period when professional players were unable to compete in Majors. He also won the US Open, then the US Championships, twice before he turned pro.

Vilas is a winner of four Grand Slam titles – all in the late 1970s – from Mar del Plata in Argentina. The left-hander, who reached a career-high ranking of world No 2, won the Australian Open twice and the French Open and US Open once apiece.

Speaking on an episode of Courtside: The US Open podcast, Higueras assessed the players he feels sit at the top of the all-time list of Hispanic men’s tennis legends.

“Obviously, Rafael Nadal would be at the top. Pancho Gonzales, I believe, was a great player and a great competitor,” said the 70-year-old.

“There is another Spanish player, Manolo Santana who I think was an exceptional tennis player in terms of what you can do with a tennis racquet and with a ball.

“He (Manolo Santana) was unbelievable and he was won the Slams also. Then you have Carlos Alcaraz who at a young age has a spot there. Having said that, you also have Guillermo Vilas.

“I definitely wouldn’t put myself there unless I put a lot of things together. Besides my playing ability I have to put the other things that I have contributed to the game with pleasure.”

Higueras has coached a host of former top players, including: Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Sergi Bruguera, Michael Chang, Carlos Moya, Todd Martin, Guillermo Coria and Dimitry Tursunov. The Spaniard was also the director of coaching for elite player development at the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

Higueras won 16 ATP titles and reached two French Open semi-finals, before retiring in 1986.