Men’s tennis is not accustomed to this scene. A teenager’s rest week should not be so obvious and fruitful শুরু starting a draw in a huge tournament and making the lives of big dogs like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic significantly easier. But Carlos Alcaraz is sitting out of this week’s Italian Open, recovering from a sprained right ankle last week and the rest of the tour is definitely opening their jaws. This is a testament to what Alcarez has achieved, just 19 years into his life, and five months this season.
Alcaraz lost 16-1 last weekend একটি a title in Miami, a first-round loss in Monte Carlo, a title in Barcelona, a title in Madrid — which effectively closed the gap between “the best prospects in the world” and “the best players in the world.” . ” His colleagues are willing to praise him out loud. In a runner-up speech at the Madrid Open, Sasha Zaverev called him “the best player in the world, even though you are still five years old” when he lost his favorite final 6-3, 6-1. Novak Djokovic made the remarks a few days after losing to him in the semifinals the day before the tournament. Stefanos Sitcipas, who is four years older than Alcaraz and has lost to him twice this year, went on to say: “He has inspired me a lot. I really want to be like her. I’m looking forward to it. “The Spaniard is at No. 6 in the official rankings and at the top of the Elo rankings. Even the most irresponsible predictions for his season in January would not have been so rosy.
In Madrid, Alcaraz lost to Nadal and Djokovic on consecutive days, the first time a player had achieved this feat on the ground. Both were nine three-setters, and the two greats were fairly in B-form যদিও although that’s usually enough to get through the rest of the tour. In the final, Alcaraz defeated Zaverev in an anticlimactic straight-set dissection. All in all, the three best four players on the way to winning this Masters title. Recovering early in his career, the teenager went home and picked up the trophy on the porch of his family’s apartment, above the crowd of neighbors’ fans.
What now? No one is his age, and no one in the next generation can find him. Scouting and solving a player with that subtle and varied game is not so easy. Where does Alkaraj go from here? At his age, some physical development is guaranteed. And if he doesn’t make a single technological advancement in any way, he will still be proud of having more options than his peers. If he has a rival in the next decade এবং and I hope he will-they probably haven’t become a pro yet. (My condolences, Janik is a sinner.)
Nadal has struggled with chronic left leg pain this week, and Djokovic is looking better every week but still less of a match representative, with Alcaraz emerging as the favorite at the French Open, ahead of schedule. Anyone who hasn’t paid attention to the last three months would be terribly surprised if he won it. I ended up predicting one way or another. This video of him, from his first ATP win in 2020 to his current dominance, is a wonderful chronology of his development. This doesn’t just mean kid.