ATP Hamburg: Carlos Alcaraz - "I'm currently not looking at the world rankings"
Carlos Alcaraz is the top favorite at the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg. Before his opening match against Nicola Kuhn, the Spaniard spoke about his meteoric rise this year.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Jul 18, 2022, 10:44 pm
It has been clear since this season at the latest that Carlos Alcaraz belongs to the future. With his victories in the two ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami and Madrid, the only 19-year-old Spaniard arrived in the absolute world class in the first half of the current season, sixth in the world rankings and third in the Race to Turin are proof enough for the fairytale development of the Iberian.
Qualifying for the end-of-year finals for the eight best players is now Alcaraz's declared goal, as he explained at a press conference in Hamburg. In the Hanseatic city, the teenager is fighting for his fifth title of the year, in addition to the triumphs in Miami and Madrid, Alcaraz also won in Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro.
Kick-off against Kuhn
"I'm a bit surprised myself at how quickly it all happened," said Alcaraz in Hamburg, where he will play his opening match against Nicola Kuhn on Tuesday. the declared goal is to win the tournament in northern Germany.
"I always try to collect as many successes for myself and my family as possible," said Alcaraz, who has played with brutal vehemence in the international limelight in recent months. "I learned how to play against the big players in the big stadiums."
Alcaraz sees Nadal and Djokovic in front of him
With Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the three Grand Slam titles this year went to two well-known title hamsters, which is why Alcaraz is currently still behind the two. According to the man from Murcia, they are still the best tennis players on the planet.
It would be surprising if this were not said about Alcaraz one day. At the moment, however, the teenager does not want to deal with these mind games: "I'm not looking at the world rankings at the moment."
Incidentally, the matches from Hamburg are available live on TV in Germany on ServusTV.