Wimbledon will get its first look into the future this week, when all three current teenage members of the top 100 club make their career debuts on the SW19 turf.
Alongside the Italian 19-year-old pair of Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, the most youthful of the trio is Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who has sprinted up the rankings from No.141 at the turn of the year to his current spot at 75. Not yet two months past his 18th birthday, he is not only the youngest in the top 100 – he is the youngest in the top 500.
Alcaraz made his main draw ATP debut in Rio in 2020, defeating Albert Ramos Vinolas. The winner of three Challengers in the past year, he kicked off 2021 with his first top 20 victory – over David Goffin, in Adelaide – before winning his debut Grand Slam match in Australia, defeating fellow qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp.
He went on to the semi-finals in Mallorca, and in Madrid became the youngest match winner in the tournament’s history. But it was at Roland-Garros that he really made headlines.
Having come through qualifying, he first became the youngest man to win a main draw match on the Paris clay since Novak Djokovic; and then, by seeing off the No.28 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, he became not only the youngest man to reach the third round at Roland-Garros since 1992, but the youngest man to do so at any Grand Slam since Rafael Nadal in 2004, in Australia.
“Obviously it's good, but I still focus on me," Alcaraz says. "It means that I'm going the right way. I am doing the right things, and I keep [doing] this. I'm still growing up as a player and as a person, and that's the important thing.”
As you might imagine, all too predictably for any seriously promising young Spaniard making waves on the men’s Tour, Alcaraz has been dubbed the ‘new Nadal’.
There was particular buzz when the two faced one another in Madrid on Alcaraz's 18th birthday last month, with the 20-time Grand Slam champion mopping up victory for the loss of three games.
The ‘new Nadal’ line is obviously unhelpful – what teenager needs that kind of millstone round their professional neck? Besides, Alcaraz doesn’t see it.
“I like to play aggressively with a lot of winners,” he says. “My style is more or less like Roger Federer, aggressively coming to the net and playing a lot of drop shots.”
He can’t be involved in ‘the next Rafa’ conversation. It’s very important to find his own way
His coach Juan Carlos Ferrero (winner of Roland-Garros 2003 one month to the day after his charge’s birth) believes the Nadal comparison is harmful.
“He’s going to be himself,” says Ferrero, who has guided Alcaraz for over three years. “He has the potential to be one of the best in the world. We have to let him grow up, stay calm, work hard. He can’t be involved in ‘the next Rafa’ conversation. It’s very important to find his own way.”
The opening round will not only mark the Wimbledon debut for Alcaraz, who was awarded a wild card into the main draw. It will also be his first-ever Tour-level match on grass. Originally drawn to play Tommy Paul, following the American’s withdrawal he will now face Yasutaka Uchiyama.
The world No.116, a lucky loser from qualifying, has drawn a blank in all five of the Grand Slam main draw matches he has played, including his only previous main draw appearance at Wimbledon, in 2019.
Should Alcaraz come through that test, his prize might well be a contest against the No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev – potentially a show court prospect.
Whatever the outcome this time, Alcaraz of course has a team of professionals taking care of his daily progress.
Every day is a brick that he has to add, so that the wall he is building is perfect
“We remind him that every day is like a brick that he has to add, so that the wall he is building is perfect,” says fitness specialist Juanjo Moreno. The results are noticeable both in visible sturdiness, and capacity to cope with long matches on consecutive days.
“That change in appearance has never been the goal, but it’s the side effect of a job well done,” says Moreno. “You can see it in the speed of his serve, the zip in his shots, the strength he hits the ball with, the way he moves on court.”
Alcaraz himself is relishing it all.
“I have complete confidence in my team and I’ve made huge progress on the physical side,” says the youngster. “It’s very important to be able to cope with adversity [in matches]. I have a lot of confidence in my fitness, and I think I’m ready to play really tough and very long matches.”