Tennis fans have been indulged for so long by the opulence of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era that we’ve simultaneously hoped it would never end and fixated on identifying the "Next Great Player."
This is, of course, wholly unfair to the next generation. After all, who could possibly compare to the triumvirate that has ruled this exalted epoch?
Labeling a youngster–especially a teen–the "next big thing" may be especially unjust to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. The 18-year-old has probably never known a time when Rafael Nadal wasn’t his country’s top sportsman and one of the greatest ever to play the game of tennis.
Yet such are the kid from Murcia’s talents and prospects that comparisons to Nadal are inevitable.
Alcaraz and his team “are a little bit tired of the comparison,” said his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. “It’s too heavy a bag to carry.”
Alcaraz is probably thankful that, unlike Nadal, at least he’s a righty. And with his close-cropped, all-business haircut, Alcaraz looks nothing like the feral specimen that Nadal was when he first won the French Open as a teen.
Like Rafa, Alcaraz plays with a yellow Babolat Pure Aero racquet. And though he burst onto the scene, winning his first ATP title earlier this year at Umag (Croatia), in a muscle tee, Alcaraz’s game isn’t obviously modeled on Nadal’s. Alcaraz hits with raw power and has a relentlessly attacking, all-court approach.
When asked what his coach Ferrero, a former World No. 1 and finalist at the US Open in 2003, had taught him, Alcaraz said: “I think the most important thing that he taught me is I have to play every point at the same level.”
That advice may have come from Ferrero, but it sounds an awful lot like Nadal.
Though Alcaraz is only in his first full year of playing the majors, he has already compiled a compendium of firsts and “youngest” accolades.
At No. 55, he is the youngest player ranked that high since Nadal (who reached No. 40 as an 18-year-old in 2004). With his title at Umag in July (where he defeated Richard Gasquet, 6-2, 6-2), Alcaraz became the youngest ATP champion since Kei Nishikori (also 18) won the title at Delray Beach in 2008. At 16, in Rio de Janeiro, Alcaraz became the youngest player to win an ATP 500 match in series history (since 2009).
Perhaps most significantly, Alcaraz has won his debut matches at all four of the Slams in 2021. At Roland Garros, the Spaniard became the youngest player to make it to the third round of a major since Nadal did it at the Australian Open in 2004. At the US Open, after manhandling 26th seed Cameron Norrie and following it up with a hard-fought win over the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach the third round at two majors since Novak Djokovic in 2005.
Alcaraz next takes on No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in what should not only be a highly entertaining match, but one that will lay bare just how much progress the youngster has made against the very best players in the world.
Update: Alcaraz stunned Tsitsipas in a fifth-set tiebreak in Friday's Arthur Ashe Stadium matchup. Read the full match report.
So far, he hasn’t fared well against the Top 10, losing to Nadal, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev in straight sets. Even after his straightforward victory, Zverev said he expected Alcaraz to enter the Top 10 by the age of 20. “He reminds me of Nadal,” said the German. “His weight of shot is similar.”
Alcaraz did emphatically beat David Goffin, then the No. 14 player in the world and top seed at the Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne in January–the Spaniard’s first Top 100 win. “He just killed me,” said Goffin, “so I would say he’s good.” Alcaraz also defeated Casper Ruud, then the 26th- (and now 11th-) ranked player from Norway, at the ATP 250 event in Marbella, to reach his first ATP semifinal at 17.
The youngster is not lacking for confidence. After winning three matches in qualifiers at Roland Garros, he said: “Personally, I think I have the ability to beat anyone.”
With the burgeoning results have come enormous pressure in Alcaraz’s home country. With Nadal’s reign most likely beginning to near its end, and the rest of the fabled Spanish Armada–Ferrero, Carlos Moyà, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, et al.–either retired or also nearing the end of their careers, the hunt is on for who will be Spain’s next great player.
“He has all the ingredients to be a great champion”
Alcaraz’s path to tennis greatness has seemed almost preordained. His father was also a professional tennis player, but early on he made the crucial and unusual decision not to be his son’s coach, preferring outside influences to provide stability and support. By the age of 10, Alcaraz had attracted his first sponsor, Postres Reina, a packager of dairy desserts. Ferrero discovered Alcaraz at 14 at his academy in nearby Alicante, and later that year Alcaraz earned his first ATP ranking points.
Alcaraz, ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2020, has risen from No. 490 in the world as a 17-year-old to his current No. 55 in just over a year of play (and much of it limited by the pandemic). This summer the Spaniard has beaten seven Top 100 players on the American hard courts.
Alcaraz possesses all the elements to continue his climb. The solidly built, 6-foot-1 player is quick and athletic; he is technically very sound in all areas of the game. He looks for early opportunities to finish off points by pummeling his muscular forehand or venturing to net; and he has a solid, flat two-fisted backhand. Fact is, Alcaraz plays more like someone who grew up on hard courts rather than the typical tierra batida (red clay) of his native Spain.
If there is one area the 18-year-old will need to improve, it is beefing up his serve and making it a dependable weapon to win free points.
His team seems to be taking his development in stride. “Right now the objectives are short and medium term,” said Ferrero. “The long term is something we can’t control.”
Tournament director Feliciano Lopez and Rafael Nadal hand over a birthday cake to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during day seven of the Mutua Madrid Open at La Caja Magicaon May 05, 2021 in Madrid, Spain.
Nadal himself has sought to diffuse the expectations for Alcaraz’s greatness. “He’s a good kid, humble and hard-working,” said the 20-time Slam winner in Australia earlier this year. “He has all the ingredients to be a great champion, and he can improve a great deal in the next few years. How much he does will determine whether he is simply good or an incredible champion.”
In his second-round match in Flushing against Rinderknech, Alcaraz fought his way back from a 3-6 deficit in the opening-set tiebreak, saving two set points. At six-points-all, Alcaraz raced wide, deep behind the baseline and struck a fantastic, lunging backhand passing shot down-the-line to turn the tide of the match.
It was–there’s no other way to say it–positively Nadal-like.
