Generali Open Kitzbühel: Carlos Alcaraz - the expectations are inhumanly high
With Carlos Alcaraz , a player is coming to the Generali Open in Kitzbühel, who many observers of tennis predict a great career for him.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jul 21, 2021, 09:06 am
From everything you know and hear, Rafael Nadal is a helpful, courteous person away from the tennis court, who even lends a hand when a flood has caused major damage in his native Mallorca. On the tennis court, on the other hand, Nadal knows no mercy, not even with young compatriots who have been announced as his successors for some time. Which is impossible in view of Nadal's incredible successes. And so Nadal gave the up-and-coming Carlos Alcaraz a little lesson at the first official meeting on the ATP tour in Madrid, who said goodbye to the now 18-year-old with 6: 1 and 6: 2.
Alcaraz will have classified this defeat correctly, he will be taken care of by Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former world number one. A few days later, the Spaniard won the Challenger in Oueiras, after qualifying at the French Open it wasn't over until the third round against Jan-Lennard Struff. Carlos Alcaraz also survived the qualifying tournament at the first major of the year, the Australian Open.
Alcaraz receives wildcard for Wimbledon
It is all the more remarkable that the Spanish teenager received a wild card for the main draw from the organizers of Wimbledon. For a man who neither has a British passport nor benefits from an agreement between the Grand Slam tournaments, a remarkable honor. Which Alcaraz also knew how to appreciate with the opening win against Yasutaka Uchiyama. Daniil Medvedev was (still) too strong in lap two.
After losing to the second in the world rankings, Carlos Alcaraz took a breather and is back in action in Umag this week. The success against Lucas Pouille on Tuesday evening was peppered with some splendid rallies, against Andrej Martin the chances in the round of 16 are certainly not bad.
Granoller's last Spanish Kitzbühel winner
From the sea level in Umag it goes straight to Kitzbühel. Tournament director Alex Antonitsch wanted to know Alcaraz in his tournament table. The youngster stands for extremely powerful tennis from the baseline, but is also not afraid to shorten the points on the net. The heavy spin that Alcaraz offers with forehand and backhand should really come into its own in the high altitude of Kitzbühel.
Especially since the most legendary sports city in the Alps is traditionally good soil for Spaniards. Or was it? In previous years there were multiple champions from the Iberian Peninsula with Emilio Sanchez, Alex Corretja (two titles each) and Albert Costa (three titles), and Alberto Berasategui was also able to enter the list of winners. The last single triumph of a Spaniard was eight years ago: Marcel Granollers, now almost only in doubles, won the 2013 final against Juan Monaco. It cannot be ruled out that Carlos Alcaraz will follow in the footsteps of Granollers in just a few days. The current number 73 in the ATP world rankings is now used to high expectations.
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