Carlos Alcaraz plays down chasing 'impossible' Rafael Nadal ...

Updated

Jun 10, 2024, 10:22 PM

Published

Jun 10, 2024, 02:49 PM

PARIS – Carlos Alcaraz said emulating Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s successes seems “impossible” after winning his maiden French Open title on June 9 with victory over Alexander Zverev.

The 21-year-old came from behind to win 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 and claim his third Grand Slam triumph.

His victory made him the youngest man to win Slam titles on clay, grass and hard courts.

With Roger Federer retired, Nadal expected to hang up his racket in 2024 and Djokovic having a poor season by his high standards, Alcaraz could be primed to dominate the sport for years to come.

Although he is already making history, he has some way to go to match Nadal’s record of 14 French Open titles or Djokovic’s men’s best total of 24 Grand Slams.

“Both things are out of the ordinary,” he admitted.

“You have to be an alien to get it. What Rafa did with 14 is practically impossible.

“The 24 Grand Slams I hope I can but it is almost impossible. Both things are out of the ordinary...

“Before facing this final, he (coach Juan Carlos Ferrero) told me, you’re going to fight for your third Grand Slam title, with everything you have been through, and you know the difficult part of winning a Grand Slam, and Djokovic has 24.

“So it is unbelievable. Right now I can’t think about it.”

Alcaraz will next turn his attention to the grass-court season and the defence of his Wimbledon title.

But he already has one eye on returning to Roland Garros in July for the Paris Olympics, where he is expected to play alongside the 38-year-old Nadal in the doubles.

“When I come back here to the Olympics, I will have flashbacks. It can be very nice, my first Games 40 days after winning my first Roland Garros,” he added.

“I really want to. Fight to give my country a medal, be able to play doubles with my idol Rafa Nadal. Let’s fight.

“Coming back here is going to be a special feeling.”

He is the eighth Spanish man to win the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

“In Roland Garros, knowing all the Spanish players who have won this tournament and be able to put my name on that amazing list is something unbelievable,” said Alcaraz.

“Something that I dreamt about, being in this position, since I was started playing tennis, since I was five, six years old. So it’s a great, great feeling.”

The 27-year-old Zverev, appearing in his second Major final after the 2020 US Open, felt he did his utmost to deny Alcaraz that great feeling.

“I felt like this Grand Slam final I did everything I could. At the US Open, I kind of gave it away myself. It’s a bit different,” he said, in reference to blowing a two-set lead against Austrian Dominic Thiem in New York four years ago.

“He played fantastic. He played better than me the fourth and fifth set.”

Second-ranked Alcaraz has a perfect record in Major finals.

He has also won five Masters 1000 tournaments and became the youngest ever world No. 1 when he was 19. But he said the triumph on June 9 was his proudest moment so far.

He had struggled with a right arm injury in the build-up to the tournament, missing the Monte Carlo Masters and the Rome Open, either side of a quarter-final loss to Andrey Rublev in Madrid.

“Right now lifting the Roland Garros trophy, knowing everything that I have been through the last month with the injuries and all that stuff, I don’t know. Probably this one,” he said.

“Probably this one is the moment that I’m really proud about myself, because everything that I have done the last month just to be ready for this tournament... So I’m going to say this one is the most that I am proud about myself.”

Meanwhile, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said she had no “miracle solutions” to combat sparse French Open crowds but lamented the poor attendance for the semi-final between Zverev and Casper Ruud on June 7.

Mauresmo and Gilles Moretton, the head of the French tennis federation, said they were working on resolving the issue which has plagued the 2024 tournament.

Although tickets for the tournament were officially sold out, the recurrent images of stands that are far from packed left a sour taste.

“I’m starting to have perhaps more advanced ideas to avoid that,” Mauresmo said on June 9, without getting into further details.

“I’m not going to give you miracle solutions today, but it’s something we must discuss. We’re not satisfied with what we saw for the semi-finals.”

A tournament debrief is set to take place later in June. AFP