The pace at which Carlos Alcaraz moves towards the top is one of the fastest in the history of tennis. The prodigy from El Palmar, only 18 years old, has been a member of the ATP Top-20 since Monday after winning his second title in the elite –third if we count the NextGen Finals– and the first in the 500 category, in Rio de Janeiro. janeiro. Surpassing, among others, Berrettini or Schwartzman, the latter in the final, Carlos raises expectations even more by following a triumphant path that Rafael Nadal already passed in a stage almost traced.
Alcaraz , with 18 years and 9 months, has reached the reserve of the 20 best in the world a month before Rafael Nadal did. The man from Manacor, like Carlos but in 2005, was passing through his first year of coming of age adding success after success, and on the South American dirt tour he reaped a booty that seemed maximum at the time but almost nothing compared to what would come later.
In a year for the memory of all Spaniards, that of his first Roland Garros, Nadal won his first title in Costa do Saiupe, where the Brazilian tournament of the ATP circuit was then played. With a more affordable draw than Alcaraz had to face in Rio, Rafa beat Acasuso, Calatrava, Calleri and Melo before lifting the title after beating Beto MartÃn in the final.
A week later, Rafa would also conquer the Acapulco tournament, which was then held on clay, with a meteoric final against Albert Montañés in which the Catalan could only win one game in the entire match. Two consecutive titles that launched him on the circuit, although it would not be until his end at the Masters 1000 -then Masters Series- in Miami when Rafa overcame the barrier that Alcaraz has reached with an ATP 500 title in Rio and without the need to participate in Acapulco, a tournament in which he was withdrawn at the last minute due to injury.
Continue ‘imitating’ Nadal, an impossible
After the South American tour, the forecasts with Alcaraz are extraordinary and he himself has assured that he believes he is ” on the right path towards number one in the world “. All this would come in the medium or long term but with almost total probability he will not be able to keep up with Nadal, the best tennis player in history and also the most precocious.
Rafa conquered Costa do Saiupe and Acapulco , then reached the final in Miami on hard court and also lifted, before turning 19, the Montercarlo and Rome Masters Series titles, as well as the Conde de Godó . His birthday, in the middle of Roland Garros , came before a historic semifinal in which he beat Federer, a prelude to his first Grand Slam with victory against Mariano Puerta. Alcaraz has chosen to avoid comparisons with Nadal but his tennis places him in the showcase as a new star of the future and now also of the present for Spain.
