Men’s tennis has waited more than a decade for an athlete to emerge with the game and mental strength to shake the sport’s three greats – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
On Sunday (8), Carlos Alcaraz signaled that the wait may finally be over by winning his fourth title of the season, at the Madrid Open, and asserting himself as a genuine “threat” to the French Open title.
The 19-year-old Spaniard crushed Alex Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in the clay court final, having defeated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in a watershed week.
If Alcaraz is the future of men’s tennis, the future is already here: “Now I’m trying to assimilate everything I’m going through,” the young man told reporters. “This year… people will think I’m going to be one of the favorites to win Roland Garros. I don’t have it as pressure, I have it as motivation”, he added.
“I’m really looking forward to going to Paris, fighting for the Grand Slam, and I’m really looking forward to showing my great level in a Grand Slam too.”
Outside the tennis top 100 a year ago, Alcaraz is now in sixth place in the rankings.
In electrifying days in Madrid, he set historic marks. He became the youngest champion of the tournament and the first player to beat 21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal and world number one Djokovic in the same clay-court event.
Having won in Miami a month ago, Alcaraz is now the second youngest person to win two ATP 1000 titles, behind compatriot Nadal, who was 18 when he won his second.
Although Alcaraz looks like a natural successor to Nadal, he considers his game to be more in line with Roger Federer’s.
Source: CNN Brasil
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