At 18, Carlos Alcaraz is wise beyond his years, due in no small part to working with coach and former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. He is acutely aware of walking into a trap of fuelling comparisons to Spain’s 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, despite the tennis world wanting to make that leap.
So in his post-match press conference, when asked which player he modelled his game on, there was no chance the World No. 55 was going to go with the conventional answer. But he did save room for a little surprise.
“Honestly I don’t copy any style of a players. I just play my game,” Alcaraz said. “But if I have to say one player that is similar to my game, I think it’s [Roger] Federer. I think similar as my game, trying to be aggressive all the time. I think it’s a good [comparison] for me.
“Trying to be aggressive all the time with the forehand, backhand. I think I have to improve a little bit the serve. But I think is similar, yeah.”
As he edged closer to his stunning fifth-set tie-break win over third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday, Alcaraz received Federer-like support from the New York crowd, who willed the Spaniard to victory.
“I have no words to explain how I’m feeling right now,” he said. “I just don’t know what happened out there in the court. I can’t believe that I beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in an epic match. I think the crowd was important for me. I think without the crowd I couldn’t have the opportunity to play a great fifth set and be able to beat Stefanos. I think the crowd was really amazing. I really loved it.
“When I fall into the court at the end of the match I thought of my family and my friends, other people who were supporting me in Murcia. All my team was also supporting me from the academy. I thought every person that was supporting me from Murcia from the beginning of this history when I was a kid and everything. Was amazing.”
18-year-old @AlcarazCarlos03 defeats World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in 5th-set tiebreak to reach @USOpen 4R.
Alcaraz becomes the…
* Youngest man in Grand Slam 4R since A. Medvedev, 17, at 1992 @RolandGarros
* Youngest man in #USOpen 4R since Chang, 17, and Sampras, 18, in 1989— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) September 3, 2021
By Beating Tsitsipas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-6(5), Alcaraz became the youngest player to reach the fourth round at a major since 1992. He is the youngest player to beat a Top 3 opponent at a major since Michael Chang, 17, defeated World No. 1 Ivan Lendl and World No. 3 Stefan Edberg at Roland Garros in 1989.
Chasing his first Grand Slam quarter-final appearance, Alcaraz on Sunday will play German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk.
Source Tennis – ATP World Tour
