After the results of the Barcelona Open 2022, it can easily be said that Carlos Alcaraz is one of the most exciting young prospects in the current tennis fraternity.
Carlos would be the first teenager since Andy Murray in 2007, to reach the top 10 in the ATP rankings. Carlos Alcaraz made his first appearance in the ATP Tour of 2020. And ever since then he has been quite vocal about his expectations.
He has set a bar quite high for his age and the best part is that he is achieving them at a rapid pace. In an interview Carlos revealed,
“I’d like to be World No. 1, a Grand Slam champion, winner of Olympic medals… I dream big.”
This statement highlights the mentality of the teenager. Carlos has a very long career ahead of him, but the teenager has been moving towards his goals at a rapid pace.
Welcome to the Top 10 @alcarazcarlos03 ???? https://t.co/iWYV49Y2zO
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) April 25, 2022
Last year, he was still in the Top 100 rankings and crashed out of the Round 1 fixtures of the Barcelona Open. Exactly 365 days later, he broke into the Top 10 rankings and was crowned the winner of the Barcelona Open.
“I’m not going to change the person I am”- Carlos Alcaraz to remain focused on his goal to become World No.1
Carlos Alcaraz achieved the massive feat of breaking into the top 10 rankings at just the age of 18 years, 11 months and 20 days. This makes him the ninth youngest player to achieve this record ever since the inception of ATP rankings in 1973.
To our surprise, Rafael Nadal also achieved this feat by winning the Barcelona Open in 2005. In a recent interview given Carlos said,
“I don’t have any limits. I want to keep playing at the level I’m at and I think that if I keep going like this I have a lot of options to keep going up,”
“I want to keep enjoying myself on the court, I don’t want to touch the ceiling yet.”
So far, 2022 has been a huge year for the young Spaniard. Carlos Alcaraz won a total of 3 titles in just a span of 3 years. He also defeated top-seeded Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open. Carlos definitely has a long future ahead of him, however, one cannot stop but make comparisons between him and Rafael Nadal in multiple aspects.