Carlos Alcaraz Plays Matteo Berrettini at Australian Open


VILLENA, Spain — In the adjoining room the hardcore tennis academy’s Christmas party was in progress. But Carlos Alcaraz was sitting calmly at a table surrounded by trophies, talking about the beauty of training in this remote, comfortable and “peaceful” place.

It was hard not to find a metaphor as the dance music pierced the wall.

A dynamic and smiling Spaniard who is one of the most exciting new generation talents in the sport, Alcaraz will rightfully have to continue to thwart a major upheaval to fulfill his big dreams.

The 18-year-old draws comparisons to his fellow countryman Rafael Nadal, who is of the same age, albeit in different styles, and there is a photo of Roger Federer, not Nadal, in the Alcaraz room. But like Nadal at the time, Alcaraz is a true genius: he’s already ranked 31st on the tour and is in first place at that point. Australian OpenDespite contracting the coronavirus in November and skipping all the leading tournaments, he advanced to the third round.

Paul Annacone, who coached Pete Sampras and Federer, works with currently top-ranked American Taylor Fritz, and is often wary of praising players too soon.

But as the youngest player in the men’s draw in Melbourne, Alcaraz can definitely take you off the air with its brand of tennis used on all courts.

Although he is the same height as Federer and Nadal, he is considerably shorter than the leaders of the new wave Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini. . On the field, however, he doesn’t seem like a lowly leveraged underdog.

His gameplay is a fascinating mix of quick hitting power, sudden speed changes, and mercury movement resembling that of a gymnast as he slides into crevices around corners and maintains body control even in extreme positions.

“His game is electric,” Annacone said. “It’s a bit like lightning in a bottle. He has a fast racket like Andre Agassi does and he has fast feet like Rafa. He can play on the baseline and back up as needed. So, already 18 and already 30, he has a lot of things so naturally that I can’t imagine how good he’ll be in two years if he stays healthy.”

Alcaraz is an independent Spaniard and old-world No. It is led by Juan Carlos Ferrero, a #1 independent Spaniard. Ferrero grew up near here and is now co-owner of the JC Ferrero Equelite Sports Academy, where Alcaraz flies and trains.

“The key this year is to keep doing the good work and not for a moment think that the hard work has already been done,” said Ferrero. “But since I know Carlos and the values ​​he and his family hold, I would be very surprised if he let success go to his head.”

Alcaraz was born into a family of tennis players in El Palmar, a suburb of Murcia, about an hour’s drive from Villena. Alcaraz’s paternal grandfather, named Carlos, helped transform a hunting club in El Palmar into a club with tennis courts and a swimming pool. Alcaraz’s father, named Carlos, learned to play the game, inspired by the successes of Spain’s first men’s Wimbledon champion Manuel Santana. died in December.

But despite being one of Spain’s top players, Alcaraz’s father lacked the money to pursue a long professional career: he stopped at the age of 20 and became a tennis coach and manager at the club. The second of four sons, Alcaraz took his passion for family to the next level.

At the age of 3, he had already started hitting the balls against the wall with a small racket at the club in El Palmar.

“There was no way to get him out of there,” his father explained. “I was already tired after working all day and ready to go home, and Carlos would beg me: ‘Play with me here on the wall!’ It would be after 9 o’clock and I would say. “Okay, but only 20 minutes.’ And after 20 minutes, we would go for another 30 minutes and he would want more. And I’d be the one to say, ‘This can’t go on, dinner’s ready and we have to go home. And she would start crying again.

The father soon realized that his son was a quick workout and ensured that Alcaraz had a full set of tennis tools, including the low kick, which he used very effectively in Alcaraz’s second-round victory over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic on Wednesday.

Alcaraz’s family could not support his travel and education, but they did have support from a family friend, Murcian businessman Alfonso Lopez Rueda, who provided the nearly 2,000 euros Alcaraz needed to go to a youth tournament in Croatia when he was 10 years old.

After Alcaraz lost in the final and returned to El Palmar, Lopez Rueda said he would be happy to continue providing financial aid.

“Carlos and our family are eternally grateful to him,” said Alcaraz’s father.

With Alcaraz’s talent and youthful results, other philanthropists have finally arrived, including IMG, the global management agency that has long held a prominent place in tennis.

Albert Molina, Alcaraz’s manager at IMG, has worked with retired Spanish stars David Ferrer and Ferrero.

Alcaraz spends weekdays at the academy and returns to El Palmar on weekends. “I once planned to stay at home but it was difficult to find a training partner,” he said. “I think if I had stayed in Murcia it would have taken me longer to get up. There are more distractions in Murcia. A lot of friends. Going out for the night. I don’t have that here in the academy.”

Ferrero appreciates that Alcaraz’s father did not interfere with his coaching. As skinny as he was almost 41 years old, Ferrero won the French Open and reached #1 in 2003 before Federer and Nadal took command. It was where Alcaraz wanted to reach.

“I’m still pretty young and going through a time when everything is new to me and Juan Carlos has already gone through that and he can really bring me experience that other coaches couldn’t,” said Alcaraz. “He lived from the inside.”

And what has been Ferrero’s most helpful tip so far?

“First of all, he told me not to rush,” said Alcaraz. “I will gain experience, play tournaments and learn the ropes and there is no need to get in the way of the process. I have to live all these moments and not rush for immediate results because for the first time in all these tournaments I’ve played, it’s my first time facing the best in the world. And I have to enjoy it, respect it, and get the experience I need to have a clear vision about everything.”

That hasn’t stopped the coach and student from announcing lofty goals for 2022, including being in the top 15. Alcaraz made it clear on Monday that it would choose to break into the top eight and qualify for the end-of-season ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

As Alcaraz prepares to face 7th-seeded Berrettini in the third round in Melbourne on Friday, the obvious thing is that the world’s best players are already nervous. He may not have a license, but he has a game.

Ask Tsitsipas, whom Alcaraz beat in a game at the 2021 US Open. fast twitch, third round thriller It ended in a tiebreak in the fifth set and was brimming with audacious shooting.

“The ball speed was incredible,” Tsitsipas said. “I’ve never seen anyone hit the ball this hard. It took time to adapt.”

Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals in New York and retired for the first time in the main round, stopping in the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime due to a thigh injury.

“This was really unfortunate,” Alcaraz said. “I don’t like retiring from anything, but the pain was so bad I was worried if I kept playing I would do something more serious.”

But the Tsitsipas match remained with him. To him, he was the best example ever of how he wanted to perform. He played positively, lashing out at tennis with full intensity – “Branny,” Alcaraz chuckled – but at the same time he enjoyed the moment enough not to get nervous. There were smiles under pressure.

“I’m a kid on the field who needs to be happy and alive,” said Alcaraz. “When I’m serious all the time, that doesn’t bode well for me. It just pisses me off even more.”

What caught Ferrero’s attention was Alcaraz’s reaction to the grand stage of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world’s largest tennis stadium with 23,771 seats. Off the court, Alcaraz is cheerful and relaxed. Ferrero uses words like “cercana” (close) and “abierta” (open) and “fiel” (faithful).

But when the ball is in play, it’s fierce and intense.

“On the court he’s a fighter,” Ferrero said. “Most of the best players have character. Being at the US Open and playing Tsitsipas on the world’s biggest court, you get smaller if you don’t have character. Carlos is the opposite. He seems to be growing and that bodes well for me.”

Getting stronger is also part of the plan. Alcaraz spent most of the off-season as he did most of last season: strength and conditioning to prepare himself for best-of-five set tennis and a busy schedule. Riding sleeveless in Melbourne was partly a connection with Spanish tennis stars of the past (like Nadal and Carlos Moya), but also an expression of his confidence in his more muscular build.

“We know I’m going to have to play long games this year, so it’s important to feel physically strong,” said Alcaraz. “It’s very important to know that you can hold on.”

Ferrero likes to liken the Alcaraz to a car with a powerful engine that requires a chassis tough enough to support it.

“You can shoot great shots at 17 or 18, but if you don’t have the physique, it’s not sustainable,” Ferrero said. “It’s important work, but it has to be done right. You can’t go too fast.”

The academy in Villena was founded by Ferrero’s longtime coach, Antonio Martinez Cascales. When Ferrero was 15, there were only two red clay courts, but now it has 20 courts and has become one of Spain’s leading academies. There are hard courts, including an indoor hard court, and an artificial turf court, as well as a pool, cabins and a spacious clubhouse decorated primarily with memorabilia from Ferrero’s career.

A clay court was named in David Ferrer’s honor; Even as Alcaraz becomes the focus of the news media, another one in honor of 30-year-old Pablo Carreño Busta, who remains the highest-ranked player in the academy at number 21.

“People focus on me because I’m young and very good, and people are always interested when you do something at a young age,” Alcaraz said. “But I’m not really trying to focus on that.”

He acknowledged that any comparison to Nadal is flattering but wildly premature, in light of Nadal’s 20 Grand Slam singles titles and long standing at the forefront of global sport.

“I don’t want people to know me as mini Nadal or second Nadal,” he said. “I just want to be Carlos Alcaraz.”

And who could this be?

Alcaraz didn’t hesitate as the dance music continued next door.

“He’s a humble young man who knows what to do,” she replied. “He is a kid who wants to realize his dreams and works for it, who trains for it every day. I think I’m on the right track with my team at the academy and I hope that if we meet again in this room in 10 years, my dreams will come true.”

samuel aranda contributing reporting.



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