Carlos Alcaraz: "Don't want to compare me to Rafael Nadal"
Carlos Alcaraz is considered the surprise of the tennis season so far, at the age of only 16 he celebrated his first victory on the ATP tour in Rio de Janeiro. However, this is not a reason to compare yourself to Rafael Nadal .
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 08, 2020, 07:44 pm
The reports were clear: something big is about to happen. After Carlos Alcaraz, just 16 years old, was able to beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the first round of the ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro, the newcomer showed some of the attributes that it takes to become a top player. A lot of time has passed since then, Alcaraz celebrated his 17th birthday and had to wait until he was back on the court for competitive tennis.
This moment had come a few days ago, the teenager played an exhibition match in an academy in Spain, won it and once again made people sit up and take notice with his victory against Alex de Minaur. "After being placed in the academy, he was able to work in the gym and become a little stronger in order to be able to withstand the high-level games that I have to play from now on," recalls the young Spaniard in an interview with AS.
Review of "difficult" times
Above all, he would have had to get stronger physically to be able to sustain this new intensity. Alcaraz was also able to improve the service during the interruption of the tour. Although the Spaniard can look back on a successful time, it was not a bit pleasant: "There were difficult times at the academy, but it became more pleasant because I was with more people with whom I could identify this situation was very difficult. "
But now Alcaraz can look to the future, tournaments at Challenger level will start in mid-August. Due to the long break, the rush will be correspondingly high, for the Spaniard this could mean that he does not fall into the grid: "Everyone is looking forward to playing tournaments and it will be very difficult to be there."
Number one the big goal
Carlos Alcaraz is being looked after by Juan Carlos Ferrero, for whom the youngster has nothing but positive words: "Juan Carlos has a lot of experience in this, he went through the phase that I am in now, at the age of 17, and he knows me very good advice. He's a very serious person, he helps me to have more discipline and to understand how I can suffer, something that I had to improve and that he gave me. And above all, he has a lot of experience and knows what to do in the most difficult moments. "
With him, the Spaniard wants to achieve his big goals, namely to become number one in the world and win a Grand Slam, as Alcaraz reveals. With that he would follow in the footsteps of Rafael Nadal, the great Spanish tennis player of recent years. Alcaraz avoids the comparison to the 19-time Grand Slam champion: "I don't want to compare myself to Rafa, because he is my idol first of all, and it is almost impossible or very difficult to get to where he is Now stands. Every player has his own path, you have to put the comparisons aside and follow each one in your own way. "