Carlos Alcaraz, the story of the new prodigy who threatens to found a new era of tennis

Carlos Alcaraz was exhausted. After a first set where the Spaniard was impressive, it seems that Casper Ruud took his hand and dominated. After a second set to forget, he got off to a positive start in the third. But the ghosts have returned. The fatigue was noticeable. He had played three consecutive matches in five sets. Before Jannik Sinner, he was about to fall, but he got up from the canvas. As in the final on Sunday.

Advance the stopwatch. The 19-year-old Spaniard knows this is a unique opportunity. He can win his first Grand Slam, climb to first place in the ATP rankings and become the youngest leader in history. You cannot succumb. The third set tie is not broken. The Norwegian is about to break it. If he does, he keeps the sleeve and takes advantage of it. Alcaraz is fighting to prevent this from happening. He succeeds and stretches decisive game . It’s a second wind, it shows in the definition, where he brings out the best in his repertoire.

In the fourth, he wins. A Pause that’s enough. The US Open has a new king. World tennis is finding a new monarch proper. A new tennis player who is here to stay and who hopes to start a new era.

Since childhood, the boy from El Palmar, a town belonging to the municipality of Murcia, had his big goal clear. “I want to be number one,” he said at the age of sixteen. It had only been two years since he had left the tennis school run by his father, to embark on more complex competitions.

His family, passionate about tennis since his grandparents, instilled the sport in him. Of course, it wasn’t until the age of fourteen, when Juan Carlos Ferrero saw his potential, that his exponential rise began. Just a year and a half on the circuit was enough to bring him to where he is. The numbers are incredible. In five seasons, the boy from Murcia, after leaving home, becomes the best on the planet in his discipline.

Carlitos, a nickname that is explained by the fact that his father bears the same name, arrives at the attacker of Ferrero after Albert Molina captures him. The agent entered the life of the tennis player at the age of twelve. Since then, he accompanies her in her decision-making. In all his matches, when he wins a point or the situation gets complicated, the eyes of the Murcian go to Ferrero or Molina. The complicity is evident in the dialogues and gestures.

Ferrero, former historic Spanish tennis player, developed the virtues of the current number 1 in record time. one of the keys.

Of course, all is not tennis in the life of Alcaraz. If 80%, probably. This is how you arrive at your position. However, with a whole life ahead of him, the young athlete fills his free time with other hobbies. He is a fan of a football team, for example: Real Madrid. Moreover, he claims to be a follower of the Golf.

His idol in his field makes sense. Ad portas in his twenties, no wonder he admires Rafael Nadal. With whom, by the way, he saw faces three times. With two victories for the experienced and one for the novice. Carlitos’ triumph was at the Masters 1000 in Madrid, this season, by 6-2, 1-6 and 6-3. Curiously, he doesn’t like being compared to Manacor’s man, although he doesn’t hide his idolatry. “If I have to say a player who looks like my game, I think it’s Federer trying to be aggressive all the time,” he once said.

In his private life, he has generational tastes. He claims to “enjoy” reggaeton and says he listens to it. He also maintains that his favorite actor is Will Smith, but his favorite movie is Rocky Balboa. Sylvester Stallone’s work often appears on athlete lists.

This is the new strain of tennis. This Sunday, after his historic act in New York, he took the microphone to make his feelings known. “Winning a ‘Grand Slam’ title and being number one is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid,” he began by saying. Looking back on his story, Alcaraz said, “I have to put into perspective all the work I’ve done with my team and my family.”