French Open: Carlos Alcaraz challenges the old masters - exciting title race in Paris
The title race at the French Open promises high tension. Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz attacks veteran stars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal .
by SID
last edit: May 21, 2022, 08:28 am
Sometimes Carlos Alcaraz feels that he has not yet reached the status of Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. "I'm still fighting to be able to buy a nice car," the 19-year-old tennis sensation recently reported with a smile on Spanish television. While the old masters have entire fleets of vehicles and access to yachts and private jets, the answer from Alcaraz parents so far has been: No!
Your junior should stay on the carpet and not be distracted by nonsense in his head from tennis, which has worked sensationally so far this year. With his meteoric rise to number six in the world, with tournament victories in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid, the young athlete from Murcia has not only earned around 5.5 million euros in prize money, he has also made himself one of the closest favorites for the played the French Open starting on Sunday.
Nadal: "There are no limits for Carlos"
"He's incredible," says Nadal of the season's newcomer. "There are no limits for Carlos," says Alexander Zverev. "He is the future in men's tennis," Djokovic is convinced - but does Alcaraz also own the present in Paris? The world number one in particular will do everything in his power to prevent the "Coupe des Mousquetaires" from being passed on to the young star.
Djokovic's hunger for success is too great after a spring in which he robbed himself of all opportunities by refusing to vaccinate. At the latest since his triumph at the Masters in Rome, the exceptional athlete from Belgrade has been back and is determined to reach for his 21st Grand Slam title, with which he would catch up with Nadal in the eternal ranking.
Djokovic is building form
"I'm positively surprised by myself," said Djokovic after his triumph in the Italian capital, his 38th Masters triumph ever. Behind Nadal, almost untouchable with 13 titles in Paris in the past two decades, there is once again a question mark. "I'm a player living with an injury," he said recently. Sometimes he doesn't notice anything, but sometimes his foot hurts "like crazy". The first impressions in Paris looked positive.
And that Nadal, despite all the problems, is always capable of extraordinary things, was shown by the Mallorquin at the start of the season, among other things with the sensational victory in Melbourne.
Since then, the muscular Alcaraz, who could meet Zverev in the quarter-finals, has grown enormously again and is keeping an eye on the largest share of the prize money pot in Paris, which provides 2.2 million euros for the winner. Maybe he'll hear a "Si" when he asks his parents about the car again.
Here the individual tableau in Roland-Garros
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