Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz They will be measured this Wednesday in what will be a generational duel of Spanish tennis in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open. The match will mark the debut for Nadal in the tournament and against the young promise from Murcia, only 17 years old, who comes from knocking down the French Mannarino in his first commitment.
Alcaraz’s coach, the former player Juan Carlos Ferrero, believes that his pupil does not do well the comparisons that place him as Nadal’s successor. “I would not dare to speak of relief. It is true that Carlos is the boy who comes from behind, not to replace, but to opt for great things and play great games. I think everything that is said about Carlos as Rafa’s replacement is not a good thing for him. It is an added pressure that is put there. It doesn’t do much good. I like to think that we have another player who has a lot of potential. With his game and his way of approaching game by game, the face to face with the players, he makes me trust that he will be very good. But you have to go step by step. Tomorrow is a generational duel, “he says.
Ferrero believes that Rafa is “super alive, he is playing at a very high level, fighting for Grand Slams”, but also that he will not underestimate Alcaraz: “Rafa already knows Carlos because we train together in Australia. He had that opportunity and play a set and a half. He knows that Carlos is dangerous, he knows that he has to get away with it all. Any player who is active and sees a player with projection coming, already knows him, studies him. You know it’s dangerous, but you also trust yourself. Rafa has more than enough experience to know how to play. Obviously he will think that Carlos is dangerous, but it is one more game for him. “
Nadal’s coach, another ex-player of substance, Carlos Moyá, acknowledges that the game is “special.” “They face the present, because Rafa is still the present and for many years, and the immediate future. I think Alcaraz is going to be a great player. It is already very good, although it still lacks that experience and is in the process of growing. It is a natural generational change “, he points out.
“Rafa is not going to last forever, unfortunately it is the law of life. “In a few years I think Carlos is going to be one of the players who will be fighting to win the Grand Slam. Maybe they will meet in some final of a great tournament. Rafa has years left of a very high level and Carlos in one or two years may be perfectly capable of fighting for those tournaments “, predicts Moyá.
“We know that Rafa on the ground is practically invincible, but the biggest challenge is going to be trying to be mentally stable all the time. I think that tomorrow has to be his greatest virtue. We already know that Rafa plays absolutely every point.. Young people that is what it costs them the most, to be 100% permanently concentrated. For him it is a great motivation to do it here at home, his family is here and they have not seen him play for a long time. Carlos is really looking forward to it, “concludes Ferrero.