Carlos Alcaraz, the crazy rise: the eight matches that made him grow in less than a year

Madrid: the idol Nadal gives the lesson

Tournament: Mutua Madrid Open
Round: 2nd round
Opponent: Rafael Nadal
Date: May 5, 2021
Defeat 6-1, 6-2

A bittersweet birthday. On the very day of his 18th birthday, as if fate had so decided, Carlos Alcaraz challenges his idol Rafael Nadal. Already announced by some as the heir to the Majorcan as he is distinguished by his precocity at the highest level, he has the opportunity to show how the comparisons are justified in a packed and more than intrigued Caja Magica. Despite a conceded break from the start, he gives a real glimpse of his potential in certain sequences such as in the third game where his fierce but futile defense makes the spectators stand up.

On this spectacular point, Alcaraz puts his abs to the test. Not the type to complain, the kid winces, receives some treatment and goes back to battle, but less valiant. Made nervous by the occasion – who wouldn’t have been? -, he overplays somewhat like so many others before him against Nadal. Result: 28 unforced errors and three small games scored in 1h17. Still, “Carlitos” does not let go until the end since he still breaks the “Bull of Manacor” and saves two match points. All smiles when posing with a birthday cake alongside his glorious elder, he measures all the way he still has to go and has only one desire: to redouble his efforts to achieve it.

Umag: Gasquet at the forefront of the coronation of a phenomenon

Tournament: Umag
Round: final
Opponent: Richard Gasquet
Date: July 25, 2021
Win 6-2, 6-2

First attempt, master stroke. At 18 years and two months, Carlos Alcaraz has every reason to be stressed for his first final on the ATP circuit. The opportunity to open your record often generates a whirlwind of emotions, talk to Julien Benneteau and his 10 failures when climbing the last step. Especially since in front of the Spaniard stands a more than experienced opponent. At the age of 35, Richard Gasquet is playing his 32nd final on the circuit, and has already won 15 titles. But the native of El Palmar has nothing to do with these considerations and jumps at the throat of the entry Biterrois.

The latter, certainly tested by his three hours of combat the day before in half, does not serve well enough and does not have the weapons to respond to the Spanish furia. He can only save four games and stands in awe of the youngest title-winning player on the tour since Kei Nishikori at Delray Beach in 2008.”He plays amazing tennis, and he’s only 18. He hits hard on both sides, he serves well, he is fast. He will be top 10 in a year or two, I think, and he has the potential to win Grand Slams, that’s for sure. Where you see that he is a future great is that he can attack as well as defend, and that is the mark of a Djokovic, a Federer, a Murray… “, he considers. Did you say visionary?

US Open: the birth certificate

Tournament: US Open
Round: Round of 16
Opponent: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Date: September 3, 2021
Win 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6, 7-6

The talent. The arm. The look. The guts. Lucidity. Nerves. Carlos Alcaraz will show all that on the Arthur-Ashe court against Stefanos Tsitsipas, then world number 3. The Spaniard certainly does not come out of nowhere, but the sounding board of the Grand Slam will give a particular echo to this feat. Because it was Tsitsipas opposite. Because it was in five sets. And 7-6 on the 5th, please. “He has so much control, it surprised me, especially in the 5th set“, admits the defeated Greek. In this sense, this victory at the end of an epic fight of more than four hours on the longest court in the world is a true birth certificate.

It was then his first victory over a member of the Top 3. As a bonus, it was in the Grand Slam. When he breaks down barriers, Alcaraz doesn’t do things by halves. By winning this match, he not only became the youngest player in almost thirty years to reach the second week of a major tournament. He really opened everyone’s eyes to the extent of his potential and imposed the obvious: beyond the game, he has the character of a champion. In the front row, Stefanos Tsitsipas was able to testify to this: “Can we guess his future? 100%. He will soon be a contender for Grand Slam titles.“

Bercy: carried away by Gaston… and the crowd

Tournament: Rolex Paris Masters
Round: Round of 16
Opponent: Hugo Gaston
Date: November 4, 2021
Defeat 6-4, 7-5

A painful defeat but a founding match. As precocious as he is, Carlos Alcaraz turns 18 this autumn evening in the volcano of the Accor Arena. Opposed in the round of 16 to the elf Hugo Gaston, the Spaniard was carried away as much by the devilry of the Frenchman as by the indiscipline of a Bercy public so incandescent that he would have made the atmosphere of the Davis Cup pass that evening. of yesteryear for a closed door during the Covid period. After giving up the first set, he reached the pinnacle of cruelty in a second set where he was to lead 5-0 before losing it… 7-5. Not sure that he will relive that another time in his career.

The Murcian could have whined, complained, but he will spontaneously drop these words that say a lot: “I couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be. It hurts me a lot that I don’t know how to handle this pressure. But it’s like everything in life. We fall, we get up, and we get back to it. The most important thing is to learn from these experiences. I’m sure I’ll come back stronger and have learned the lesson.” Since that evening, Alcaraz has played twenty-five matches. For only two losses. One at the Australian Open, 7-6 in the 5th set against Berrettini, and his semi-final in Indian Wells against Nadal, in three sets.

Melbourne: the unfinished comeback against Berrettini

Tournament: Australian Open
Round: Round of 16
Opponent: Matteo Berrettini
Date: January 21, 2022
Lost 6-2, 7-6(3), 4-6, 2-6, 7-6(5)

An epic duel for a cruel outcome. When he arrives down under, Carlos Alcaraz has no tournament behind him in 2022 before entering the Australian Open. He made this decision in agreement with his mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero with whom he worked like a madman in the offseason to refine his physical preparation. With his tank top in the Nadal of the young years, “Carlitos” exhibits impressive biceps which attest to his metamorphosis and crunches his first two opponents in three dry sets in Melbourne. But Matteo Berrettini, Top 10 installed and subscribed to Grand Slam quarters, is waiting for him.

The clash promises to be tantalizing and actually becomes so when Alcaraz rebels after losing the first two sets. The Spaniard, winner of his previous explosive duel against the Italian in Vienna, then went into overdrive, as powerful and fast as he was enduring. The fifth act is breathtaking. Finding his immense first ball in the decisive moments, Berrettini ended up frustrating his young rival in the super tie-break, while the two men scored 159 points each in 4:10 of fighting. If he shows the muscles, the 7th in the world knows he had a narrow escape. “It’s amazing what he does. Me, at his age, I don’t even know if I had an ATP point!“, he will greet.

Rio: a small page of history

Tournament: Rio Open
Round: final
Opponent: Diego Schwartzman
Date: February 20, 2022
Victory 6-4, 6-2

Never had such a young player lifted a trophy in an ATP 500. On the clay courts of Rio, Carlos Alcaraz is writing a small page of history, while waiting to tackle bigger ones. After taking out Matteo Berrettini, 6th in the world, in the quarter-finals, then Fabio Fognini in the half, the Murcian almost acts as a favorite before the final against Diego Schwartzmann, yet better ranked than him (14th against 29th). In absolute terms, an aberration, given his age. In practice, this comes as no surprise.

The authority with which he overlooks this match and reduces the Argentinian to impotence is not astounding either. He is simply in his place. 6-4, 6-2 in less than an hour and a half and this is his main objective for the year 2022 achieved in February. Yes, Carlos Alcaraz and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero had decided to go for a 500 this season. It won’t have dragged on. Leaving Brazil, here he is for the first time in the Top 20.

Indian Wells: Nadal, to experience

Tournament: BNP Paribas Open
Round: semi-final
Opponent: Rafael Nadal
Date: March 19, 2022
Defeat 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

A new lesson from the master to the student, but this time of efficiency. Because when he appears on the center court of the “Tennis Paradise” in Indian Wells to play his first half in the Masters 1000, Carlos Alcaraz has grown up a lot since his Madrid hazing ten months earlier. Well established in the Top 20, he remains on a first title in ATP 500 in Rio and 10 victories all more impressive than the others. Roberto Bautista Agut, Gaël Monfils and Cameron Norrie were notably swept away by the tornado. And in full confidence, he enters the bacon of Rafael Nadal with an entry break on a backhand missile.

“Carlitos” is no longer complex therefore, but little by little, the “Taurus of Manacor” adapts to the violence of his strikes. And without panicking, he even reverses the dynamic against his young rival who, tense, starts to overplay again. Led by a heat, Alcaraz then had the lucidity to adapt its game to the extreme windy conditions of the day. More patient, he accepted the showdown and broke at 4-4 with a sublime lob after a game of 20 minutes. Once the counters are reset, he even seems able to topple the idol. But true to his legend, Nadal bends without breaking and carries the thrust on his only opportunity at 4-3 in the 3rd act. Beaten by nothing in 3h12, Alcaraz is still learning and drawing lessons, as his triumph in Florida will confirm in the process.

Miami: in the big leagues

Tournament: Miami Open
Round: final
Opponent: Casper Ruud
Date: April 3, 2022
Victory 7-5, 6-4

It is a match that will not go down in the great history of tennis. But it is a meeting that will mark a date. At 18 years and 333 days, this Sunday, April 3, 2022, Carlos Alcaraz joins the club of players titled in Masters 1000. They are a certain number to have their membership card. But at that age, it’s another matter. Only Michael Chang and Rafael Nadal won there younger than Alcaraz, and again, we are talking about a handful of weeks. And we are no longer in the 80s, when victory at 18, even 17, was much more possible than today.

In Miami, it was undoubtedly against Stefanos Tsitsipas, Miomir Kecmanovic, in the quarter-finals, or against defending champion Hubert Hurkacz, in the semi-finals, that Juan Carlos Ferrero’s foal left the most beautiful impression and/or lived the strongest emotions. But all the same. You had to be able to handle the weight of the event. Facing Casper Ruud in the final, Alcaraz played the most important match of his young career. His nervousness was palpable at the start of the game, but once the game was 4-1 in favor of the Norwegian, he walked on his opponent.

This Floridian title is above all the realization of a meteoric rise. In barely a year, from that duel in Madrid against Nadal where he almost apologized for being there, to the coronation of Miami, the young and already great Carlos has advanced by leaps and bounds.