AmericaRafael Nadal sees himself in Carlos Alcaraz, before taking on his juniors in today’s BNP Paribas Open semifinals.
* Nadal – Alcaraz: 14:00 on Sunday, March 20, Hanoi time.
Carlos Alcaraz is the second youngest player to reach the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 at Indian Wells, after Andre Agassi in 1988. The young Spanish talent has had a similar start to his career. Rafael Nadal. Last month, Alcaraz set a record as the youngest player to win the ATP 500 at the age of 18. Nadal won his first TP 250 title in August 2004 at the age of 18.
Alcaraz has played many youth tournaments organized by the Nadal Tennis Academy. They also regularly train together, since Alcaraz launched ATP 2020. Photo: ATP
Alcaraz was born in Murcia, coached by former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero and idolizes Nadal. Last year, when making his ATP debut at the Rio Open, Alcaraz was surprised by a win over compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas. In the following interview, the 17-year-old talent revealed his dream of playing with Nadal. A dream come true when Alcaraz meets Nadal at the 2021 Madrid Masters. He has only taken Nadal three games in that game, but still shows great potential.
“Carlos has a great team at his side,” Nadal said of Alcaraz’s growth over the past year. “I think he can be an unstoppable type of tennis player. He is passionate, humble, hardworking and a good person. It’s no secret, he reminds me of myself when I was 17, 18 years old. Carlos has talent and I’m very happy for him. He’s definitely a tough opponent for me, tomorrow and after.”
Alcaraz confirmed himself from last season, when he became the youngest tennis player to the US Open quarter-finals in the Open Age. He went on to win the ATP Finals Next Gen championship for under-21 players and reached the ATP top 20. This season, Alcaraz advanced to the third round of the Australian Open, losing only to Matteo Berrettini after a five-set tie-break.
The gap between titles and classes between Alcaraz and Nadal is huge. But the youngster has gotten used to the senior ball, as they trained together many times last week. Alcaraz’s form is also among the most stable on the ATP, with 12 wins and 1 loss, while Nadal is unbeaten in 19 consecutive matches.
Alcaraz is 17 years younger than Nadal and has 89 ATP titles. Photo: ATP
“Nice to meet Rafa,” said Alcaraz about the idol. “It wasn’t easy to meet him. But I think it was a good match, a great experience for me, in the semifinals of the prestigious Masters 1000. I will enjoy the match happily because it is a great tournament a special event”.
Nadal has endured many tough matches since the start of the year but has always won against his youth by adapting his playing style to suit his fitness at 35 years of age. He refined his core and became bolder at key moments. The only thing that Alcaraz is better than Nadal is fitness. At 1m85 and weighing 72 kg, Alcaraz can run around the pitch to save the ball and counter-attack. Stubbornness in every phase of the ball is what he has shown since the start of the tournament. Opponents always struggle to get points from Alcaraz, if they can’t make a shot with a high difficulty level.
Regardless of the result against Nadal, Alcaraz will enter the ATP top 15 next week – a milestone that teenage tennis players should remember. Spain has two representatives in the men’s singles semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open for the first time in the tournament’s 46-year history. If he beats Alcaraz, Nadal has the opportunity to equal Novak Djokovic’s record of 37 Masters 1000.
The other semi-final is a match between home hope Taylor Fritz and Russia’s players playing under the neutral flag of Andrey Rublev. Both were high and stable for months. Rublev is on a 13-game winning streak after beating Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals, while Fritz have won 24 and lost eight in the last five months.
Vy Anh
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
