Home » Former Top 10 player: “If you compare me to Rafael Nadal, it’s because…”

The first half of the season has been all about Carlos Alcaraz. The young Spaniard has achieved so much in 2022 that he is widely regarded as the sport’s future male dominator.

The protege of Juan Carlos Ferrero, who defeated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami and Madrid, has proven himself to be a formidable opponent. The Murciano also took home the ATP 500 titles in Rio and Barcelona.

However, “Carlitos” was eliminated early from both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, proving that he needs to make another qualitative leap in order to win the Grand Slams. One of the top seeds in Paris, he lost in the quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev, and he was eliminated in the second round in London (defeated in four sets by Jannik Sinner).

At this year’s US Open, Alcaraz plans to make amends for his performance in the previous year, when he eliminated Stefanos Tsitsipas. David Ferrer, director of the Barcelona ATP, recently discussed his countryman in an interview with the website Superdeporte.

Regarding Alcaraz and Nadal, Ferrer has some thoughts.

Since his retirement in 2019, David Ferrer has been keeping busy with his roles as director of the Davis Cup and the ATP 500 in Barcelona. During an interview with Superdeporte, the former Roland-Garros semi-finalist assessed the skill and potential of Carlos Alcaraz, whom many compare to Rafael Nadal.

You can count on Alcaraz to become a much better tennis player than me, because he is a great player. Strong words like Nadal. Carlos still needs to build his career, but I have no doubt that he will eventually reach No. 1 in the world and win numerous Grand Slams.

I’m familiar with Albert, his manager, and the rest of his coaching staff, led by Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been there and done that as world number one himself. The 22-time Grand Slam winner said that such shifts have always been a part of tennis, suggesting that, despite appearances to the contrary, others will emerge to mimic them.

There is nothing new about generational shifts in tennis. We’ve seen great stars come and go, only to be succeeded by others. Perhaps what has happened in our case is simply the passage of many years, but I have no doubt that the newcomers will eventually come to dominate,” Nadal said.