ROQUEBRUNE-CAP-MARTIN, France — Carlos Alcaraz of Spain was strolling to a collection of tv interviews on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters right here final month when one thing stopped him in his tracks: A Maserati MC20 on show.
Vehicles have develop into a ardour for Alcaraz, though he didn’t get hold of his driver’s license till this yr, nicely previous his 18th birthday. The 15-minute take a look at, Alcaraz admitted, was “actually, actually robust. I used to be actually nervous, and I used to be sweating.”
Relating to selecting his personal dream automotive, Alcaraz mentioned he would shun a sports activities automotive for a extra sensible sport-utility automobile, even when it had been the $200,000 Lamborghini Urus. With greater than $5 million in profession prize cash, in addition to earnings from endorsement offers, he can have no matter automotive he needs.
On the courtroom, Alcaraz revs his personal engine by bellowing and pumping his fists after hard-won factors. He can rapidly cowl the courtroom each facet to facet and from behind the baseline to the online. His shot choice is staggering, with drop photographs hit so deftly that opponents are left to stare in disgust.
A yr in the past, Alcaraz hovered on the verge of the highest 100 males’s gamers on the planet and was compelled to play three qualifying matches to succeed in the principle draw of the French Open. This yr, he enters the occasion with a career-high No. 6 rating after profitable 4 ATP titles within the final 4 months.
Along with his win in Barcelona on April 24, Alcaraz turned the youngest participant to crack the world’s prime 10 since his countryman and idol, Rafael Nadal, did so by profitable the identical event, on the identical day, in 2005. Alcaraz adopted it up by profitable his second ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid — his first was the Miami Open in April — changing into the primary participant to beat Nadal and Novak Djokovic again to again on clay. Heading into the French Open, Alcaraz has a 28-3 report on the season.
Whereas targeted and animated on courtroom, Alcaraz, who turned 19 on Could 5, is poised past his years. He wasn’t even rattled when his baggage went lacking when he returned house to Spain from Miami. In Monte Carlo, he moved throughout a line of tv cameras, providing comparable quotes to every. And he by no means stopped smiling.
The next dialog has been edited and condensed.
You’ve been in comparison with Nadal, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Which suggests essentially the most to you?
Clearly Rafa. He’s Spanish, I grew up watching his matches, and he was my idol since I used to be a child.
We’ve seen others described as the brand new Nadal who couldn’t deal with the stress. How are you holding up?
All people is aware of who’s Rafa and what he has achieved in tennis, so I’m attempting to not assume that I’m the brand new Nadal. I’m simply attempting to be Carlos Alcaraz. If I make stress on myself attempting to be Rafa Nadal and win 21 Grand Slams, it’s actually robust, and ultimately it’s harmful to myself.
Final yr you mentioned your aim was to make the highest 20, and also you’ve already surpassed that. What’s subsequent?
On the finish of final yr I mentioned my aim was to win an ATP 500, then a Masters 1000. I did each of these, so now I’m attempting to win a Grand Slam and qualify for the ATP Finals.
Your coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, informed you to not be in a rush to get to the highest. You haven’t listened. What’s he telling you now?
He’s telling me to remain calm, to do the issues that I already do, to comply with my means. Don’t take into consideration this event or the highest 5. Simply keep stage and be the identical person who I’ve been this previous yr.
You and Iga Swiatek, the brand new ladies’s No. 1, have each had nice success at a younger age. Have you ever talked to her?
Probably not. I wrote to congratulate her after she gained the Miami Open, however she didn’t reply. I don’t have her quantity, so I wrote on Instagram. I feel she obtained 1,000,000 messages.
I don’t know in the event you’ve seen “King Richard,” the biopic in regards to the father of Venus and Serena Williams, however who would you prefer to play you within the Carlos Alcaraz story?
I haven’t seen the film but, however [Leonardo] DiCaprio.
