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Nadal aside, his is another league, Pablo Carreño He has been the Spanish tennis player who has sounded the most in this rare course. He made the semifinals at the US Open, indirect protagonist in Djokovic’s pitch to the linesman that led to the Serbian’s expulsion, and reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, being less and less surprising to see him in the final rounds. He turns 30 in 2021 and is the 16th of the ATP, convinced that he still has a lot of gasoline left and that he has the necessary ingredients to settle in the top 10. The Asturian, who is already showing his teeth, analyzes the season with ABC since his maturity.
The year has been strange at all levels, but for you it has been good in terms of results.
Yes. Assuming that the year is bad for everyone, we have been fortunate to be able to compete earlier than we thought. In April or May we didn’t know if we could play. They have been difficult months, it was difficult to maintain the motivation to train, the desire to continue improving … You don’t know where the goal is and in tennis we always have it clear. But we did a very good physical and on-track job, a job that during a normal season doesn’t give you time to train. That work has gone very well on the track, the level has been very high and we have been lucky that the results have accompanied us. From the first tournaments, with Cincinnati and US Open, I was good. In Cincinnati I won the doubles tournament, which even if it is doubles is a sign that the level is there.
From there to the US Open, where he touched the final.
I made the semifinals and lost a match that went two sets to zero, a shame. But it shows me that I can do great things. From there, I have competed with great enthusiasm and it has been good for me. Quarters at Roland Garros and quarters at Paris-Bercy to end up standing up to all the players on the circuit.
He had already done a Grand Slam semi-finals, US Open 2017. Did he need to show that this was no accident?
Yes. It is clear that making the semifinals in a Grand Slam or quarterfinals, as I did in that Roland Garros in which I had to retire against Nadal for breaking my abdominal, are very important results. Getting to that level, anyway, or being the 10th in the world, is not by chance. It always comes in handy, in any case, to be able to be there again to show yourself, more than to people, that you do have the level and can be there. I am very happy with how the year has gone. We have enjoyed a lot inside the misfortunes. I have not reached the top 10, but that possibility, thinking about next season, is real, it is close.
Is that your goal?
The goal is to always go as far as possible, but I do think I have a level. If you ask me if I have the level to be one of the world, then right now I think not, there are people with a better level. But those with the best level are not always higher. I don’t lose hope, but my level is to be closer to the top 10 than to be 30.
Have you ever recognized that you had to show your nails? How do you see the dressing room now?
Their vision of you is very important, not just how well you play. And it is important that people already know that I will be there, that it will not be easy to win. Maybe in some moments of other seasons I needed to believe it more, finish finishing games against top players. But this year I have taken a little jump, I have managed to impose myself and I have hit the table. Rivals notice it and that is appreciated when you go through the clubs, on the court … That respect helps when it comes to playing and winning.
The one who did not respect him much was Kyrgios, who questioned his merit and said that, without clay, he would be just a regular player. Did it make you angry?
It bothers me that a character like Kyrgios gets so much hype, and more at a time when he wasn’t even on the circuit. They are nonsense, the results are there. If I said something meaningful it could still hurt, but … In my career I have won more titles in rapid and I have done better results. But not everyone plays or thinks like Kyrgios. It’s that it doesn’t bother me because I know it’s a lie, there is no such discussion in the circuit. Everything he says, however, has more publicity than any victory.
They continue to command the usual in tennis, but others also win. A logical change by age theme, of course.
We have been fortunate, or unfortunate for those of us who play, that three of the best tennis players in history have coincided. They have shared everything, most of the big tournaments. Not only for being very good, but also for being very regular. They have been the best for a long time. And the changes in tennis help make them last longer. My idol was Ferrero and he retired when he was 30 years old. I am about to turn 30 and I do not think about retiring. Now, the average age has risen and young people have a harder time reaching it. If the good ones last longer, it is difficult for the young to arrive. There are exceptions like Shapovalov, Auger-Aliassime, Sinner … You can see that there is a change. Thiem wins in New York, Zverev and Medvedev important tournaments …
And the relay from Spain? You were labeled the heir of this generation.
I was the youngest Spaniard in the Grand Slams for almost six years, from 20-21 to 26-27. We have had a bit of a bad time, not so many players have come out, but it was not normal that we had 16 or 20 players in the top 100. There will always be Spaniards because we have a quarry. The problem is that we want to compare each player who comes out with Nadal, it is to lose yes or yes. We have Davydovich, the Munar or Pedro Martínez … They can give joys, and when I talk about joys I’m talking about winning tournaments, going far, I’m not talking about winning one or two greats per year. That is unthinkable, we have been privileged. You can’t always win the World Cup. And Alcaraz also comes, who I know well and promises a lot, but let it be Alcaraz, let’s not put the label of the new Rafa.
Are the labels heavy?
Bufff … I didn’t stand out as much when I was young and I was lucky that I was never the new Nadal. I went in hiding, when I was young the new Rafa was Carlos Boluda, Javi Martí …
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