Carlos Alcaraz, the child prodigy who learns by leaps and bounds – 07/16/2023 – Sport

After the victory at Queen’s, Carlos Alcaraz considered that he needed “more experience on grass”. Three weeks later, this precocious genius won Wimbledon, his second Grand Slam title, on a surface he previously thought he could not master.

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player managed to be crowned at the All England Club less than a year after winning the US Open in New York, after which he became the youngest number 1 in history.

Alcaraz does not know how to walk slowly and his brilliant career is proof of that. His emergence on the circuit was spectacular and from the start he was considered the natural heir of Rafa Nadal, in the twilight of his career and temporarily sidelined due to injury, in the hearts of Spanish fans.

In May, Carlos Alcaraz played his first Roland Garros as world number one, while Rafa Nadal, the king of Parisian clay, watched the tournament on television. The young man from Murcia fell in the semifinals against Djokovic, whom he now beat in the final in London.

The “next Nadal” label is something he is used to.

“This has been on social media for years, but I try not to let myself get distracted: I think about myself, about my progress. I’m from Murcia, he’s from Mallorca. He’s left-handed, I’m not. When I was little, I wasn’t a warrior at all , he was short and not at all powerful”, he recalled in June 2022 in statements to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

It was at the age of four that “Carlitos” began hitting his first balls, on the courts or alone against the wall of the tennis club run by his father in El Palmar, near Murcia, where he continues to live with his parents and three brothers.

“At the age of 5 or 6, Carlos already had natural qualities, very good coordination and, above all, the ability to learn very quickly. He copied what he saw on the track. At that moment we decided to develop his potential”, his father told Trans World Sport.

At Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz was crowned champion despite being only the fourth ATP tournament on grass that he played in his entire life. “I didn’t think my game and my movements would adapt so quickly” to the change of terrain, he celebrated after the premonitory title won at Queen’s.

In 2022, Alcaraz had already made history by becoming the youngest number 1 in history at exactly 19 years, 4 months and 6 days, the day after lifting the US Open trophy.

Fate wanted this feat to happen 19 years after his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, also became number 1 at the US Open, after defeating Andre Agassi in the semifinals and then losing to Andy Roddick. Three months earlier, Ferrero had won Roland Garros and his future protégé had just been born.

The geographic proximity made them coincide years later. Ferrero had Alcaraz as a student when he was 15, at his academy in Villena (Alicante), an hour away from the young man’s home from Murcia. “That changed my life. I evolved, I got stronger on the track”, says the new Spanish star.

Although he ran several marathons to win the US Open, at Wimbledon he lost just two sets to reach the dream final against Novak Djokovic.

Against the Serbian, Alcaraz won 1-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 3-6 and 6-4 in four hours and 42 minutes to add his sixth title of 2023 and the most important of them, surpassing the Masters 1000 in Madrid, where he was proclaimed winner for the second consecutive year.

In addition to his talent on the slopes, Alcaraz stands out for his good character and almost eternal smile. He conveys how much he enjoys what he does.

“When I was younger I was a completely different person. I certainly didn’t have as much fun as I do now. I was always angry, throwing the racket, complaining a lot,” he said. “He learned to calm down, to control my emotions. And to enjoy playing tennis, to have a lot of fun on the court,” he says.