21-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal says Carlos Alcaraz is already a star and the 18-year-old no longer needs care. Alcaraz, 18, grew up idolizing Nadal and is now being called the new Nadal.
Alcaraz, who turns 19 this week, is already a Masters champion and in the top 10. In Miami, Alcaraz won his first Masters title. Following his victory in Barcelona, Alcaraz broke into the top 10 for the first time in his career, as he is ranked No. 9 in the world.
Like Nadal, Alcaraz became a Masters champion and top 10 player at 18 years old. “He no longer needs to look up to me as his role model. He is already a star.”
He does amazing things. I am happy [pour] a Spanish colleague, happy as a fan of this sport to know that we are going to have an extraordinary player for a long time,” Nadal said, according to Sportskeeda.
Nadal: Alcaraz is a legitimate threat on the biggest stage.
Nadal acknowledged that most players need more time before they find their place on the ATP Tour and start doing great things.
However, it doesn’t take long for a generational talent to start showing significant results. Players like Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer started achieving great things at a very young age.
Today, we see this phenomenon happening with Alcaraz. “When you are young, when you are very good, the process is faster than normal people. So he (Carlos Alcaraz) is not a normal guy, like Novak was not a normal guy, like Roger was not a normal guy. I was also probably not a normal guy or Sascha (Zverev) or those kind of guys who have a high level at a very young age so that they transition to the highest level very quickly.
That’s what he did and he’s already at the top, as one of the great favorites to succeed in every tournament he plays,” Nadal added.
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