“Obviously I want to put my name on that short list to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. I know it will be very difficult and a big challenge for me, but I think I’m ready to do it,” said Carlos Alcaraz , recent winner on clay in Paris and will begin his title defense today, Monday (2). :30 p.m.).
In 2023 he made it to the semis at Roland Garros and the crown at Wimbledon. This time he tends to make a double reach only of genius rackets. Only twelve tennis players have done so in the centennial history of both Grand Slams, five in the Open era, since 1968.
Alcaraz wants to be thirteenth, second youngest since French Rene Lacoste He inaugurated this relationship in 1925 when he was only 21 years old. The same age, plus 70 days, of Murcian, who will break another precocity record as a younger professional.
He can be equated, among professionals, with Australian Rod Laver (1969), Swede Bjorn Borg (1978 to 1980, debuting at 22) and the ‘Big 3’: Rafael Nadal (2008 –23 years– and 2010), the Swiss Roger Federer (2009, 27 years old) and the Serbian Novak Djokovicin 2021 at 34.
“It’s hard to win the Grand Slams. Moving from clay to grass means competing on completely different surfaces, with completely different games. Let’s say I’ll try for double that,” said a motivated Alcarazwho on clay overcame a nagging injury to his right arm, which he said left him permanently sidelined.
After the victory in the French capital, a few days of vacation in Ibiza and quickly went to London to touch the grass at Queen’s. He did not retain the title, after defeating Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo he lost to the British Jack Draperbut it served the purpose of quickly covering moving surfaces.
He did not move from the English capital, where he rented a house until the end of Wimbledon, as happened last season. By winning the Queens’23 he realized that his tennis is perfectly adapted to grass, where he can exploit his aggressive vocation and deploy his complete and varied range of shots. He catapulted to historic victory at Wimbledon, in only his third participation. It has dominated every corner of the ‘Cathedral’, the central part, which opens this afternoon, the honor reserved by the All England Club for the champion.
The draw paired him with a tennis player a week younger, from his generation but he didn’t measure up to the junior stage either. Estonian is measured Mark Lajalcoming from the previous stage, rookie in the Grand Slam, with only six matches at the highest level of the ATP or Davis Cup, 269th in the world ranking led by the Italian Jannik Sinner, that the world number one is mathematically safe at Wimbledon.
Although Alcaraz wants to position himself to attack him later, to leave the transalpine again, as happened in the Roland Garros semi-finals. They can repeat the rivalry in the same Wimbledon tie. In Novak Djokovic on the other side of the draw, reappeared on Tuesday to test his recently operated right knee in competition.
Source: La Verdad
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