Tennis has a new king: Carlos Alcaraz, better known as Carlitos, ranks first in the ATP rankings. The young Spanish tennis player won the US Open, his first Grand Slam of his career by beating Casper Ruud, and became the youngest ever to reach the world leader, beating Lleyton Hewitt’s speed record.
Alcaraz is even the only one to achieve this before the age of 20 (19 years and 130 days). To understand the magnitude of the young Murciano’s achievement, it is necessary to see that two of the greatest tennis players of all time, Roger Federer (he was 22 years old) and Novak Djokovic (he was 24 years old) did not even top-10 of the youngest at number 1. – a closed list of Rafael Nadal (22 years and 76 days).
Born in a country with a strong tennis tradition, with three leaders of the ATP ranking created in 1973 (Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal) and where the tennis courts are full of young people who want to become pros, Carlitos – as he was called as a child to avoid confusion with the other two Carlos Alcaraz (his father and paternal grandfather) – already runs under his own name, but does not shy away from comparisons. Physical strength, speed, charisma and magnetism on the field make him a true photocopy of Nadal. There is also the aggressiveness of Roger Federer and the coldness of Novak Djokovic. Qualities that make the young man from El Palmar (Murcia) the strongest candidate to end the dominance of the Big 3: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“He’s at 60% of his potential. He has to keep working if he wants to stay at the top. There is a lot to improve: the service, the response, links in some situations, the decision-making. The work is not over yet”, he said. Juan Carlos Ferrero.
If the tennis world (and the sport in general) bows to him, those who have stood in his shoes and trained him are warning that Carlos Alcaraz has a lot to improve on. “He’s at 60% of his potential. You have to keep working if you want to stay on top. There is a lot to improve: the service, the response, links in some situations, the decision-making. The work is not over,” said Juan Carlos Ferrero, praising the boy he received at his academy at the age of 13, “thin as spaghetti”, but with many sneakers in his hands.
“Carlito is exactly who he seems to be. He has a very strong character. He learns quickly. He is a very good and humble child. His family is great and they help him a lot. His father just told me that we calm him down after that and put his feet on the ground,” revealed the former world number 1
Five trophies and 5.8 million euros in prize money
The son of Virginia Garfia and Carlos Alcaraz, he discovered tennis at the age of four on one of the many fields of the club in El Palmar, where his father was director. Like the three brothers, he started playing there and soon his father realized that he was up against a child prodigy, “because of his familiarity with the racket”. I never got tired of being inside court and it didn’t take long to compete and pose a financial dilemma for the family. Traveling to the U-10 World Cup in Croatia was “unbearable”, but then coach Kiko Navarro turned to a patron (Alfonso López Rueda) to help Alcaraz into the competition.
On his return to Spain, he took part in the Nike Junior Tour and in 2015 stunned Ferrero by reaching the Roland Garros under-13 semifinals. Relocated to the former No. 1 Equelite Academy, but it was at home, at the age of 15, that he reached his first ATP point, in Future Murcia (2018), breaking Nadal’s precocity barrier. And it was with a triumph in Portugal that he entered the top 100 in May last year after winning the Oeiras Open 125, and was able to participate in ATP 250 tournaments. In just over a year, he rose to No. 1, after victories in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Barcelona, Madrid and now at the US Open. And also added one prize money 5.8 million euros.
In May, he was supposed to play the Estoril Open, but decided to rest after the triumph in Barcelona. According to the director, João Zilhão, Carlitos was soon invited to the tournament in 2023. Could that be possible?
Source: DN
