Carlos Alcaraz is happy. It may seem obvious, but it is also what the tennis player believes has been the key to achieving the feat he has achieved in New York: raise your first grande and also become the youngest number one in history. “I have the trophy because I was happy on the track”, he assures in his first appearance before the press after the victory.
Juan Carlos Ferrero had said it before and the tennis player also ratified it. After falling too early in Cincinnati and Montreal Alcaraz felt pressure, lost “a little joy”. He arrived at the New York event determined to enjoy himself again, “to smile again on the track”. And with the support of his team and his family, he regained that happiness in the game that is vital to him and that he considers as fundamental to his success as the physical and mental level that he has shown in New York.
Now he has what he dreamed of so much and Alcaraz says that “it’s crazy”, “unbelievable”. He also assures that she never thought she would make it at 19 years old. But achieving it is not the end of goals. “Of course I’m hungry for more“, it states. “I want to be at the top for many weeks, hopefully many years, and after these two incredible weeks I’m going to work to have more.”
Brain, heart and “the other”
The American press is interested in the emojis that he has been using on social networks: a heart, a brain and two eggs, and Alcaraz gives them the explanation. It’s something that his grandfather told him since he was a child, and both the person and the phrase remember them when they need it most. “Because of that,” she adds, “I can push myself up in the tough times.” “They are with me in every match. And I think I’ve played great tennis but I’ve also shown a level of heart, mentality and the other enormous”.
Humility in front of the ‘Big 3’
Also inevitable for Alcaraz are the questions for Rafael Nadal, or the comments that already speak to him of his own era, and the tennis player answers them with humility. “I have one, he (Nadal) is 22, so I’m in line,” he says smiling.
It also refers to the Big 3 made up of Manacor, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. “It is incredible to be able to have the youngest number one slot in history but it is more difficult what they have done, to stay there for so long,” he says. “I don’t want to compare myself but it’s something I admire, what everyone wants to become, and I’m going to keep working to be even a little like them. I am a 19-year-old boy, I have a lot of room for improvement, the Grand Slam and number 1 have come to me very soon, ”he continues. “The Big 3 has also been evolving. There is always something to improve”.
What Alcaraz assures that it’s not going to change it’s his personality. “Now many things will come that I would never have imagined would come at 19 years old, but I think that as I am as a person, it will not be difficult for me to keep my feet on the ground. As soon as I arrive in Spain I will go see my family, my friends. Y I will be the same as always”, he promises. “Proud to be from Murcia, proud to be from El Palmar, proud to be Spanish.”
In fact, his imminent appointment will be to fight with the Spanish Davis Cup team. And Alcaraz assures that “he is excited to play it at home”. “let’s go all out and we hope to play at the best level in Valencia to be able to qualify for Malaga”.
