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Carlos Alcaraz is widely considered the next big thing in Spanish tennis, and he has even drawn frequent comparisons with Rafael Nadal. Now, after qualifying to the Australian Open at the age of 17, Alcaraz has revealed that he frequently puts himself in the shoes of Nadal as well as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz is the first player born in 2003 or later to reach the main draw of a men's Grand Slam event. But even before achieving that feat, he turned several heads with his meteoric rise at the Challenger level.
In a recent interview, Carlos Alcaraz was asked whether he has ever dreamt of being World No. 1. The Spaniard replied in the affirmative, before admitting that he has often imagined playing the kind of historic matches that Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have.
"Yes, quite a few times," Alcaraz said. "But above all, when I watch videos of Rafael Nadal and Djokovic in the Australian final, or Rafa and Federer in the Wimbledon final, I have imagined playing those kind of historic matches."
Carlos Alcaraz is one of the 72 players who have been put into hard quarantine following the multiple positive COVID-19 tests on the chartered flights to Melbourne. The 17-year-old revealed that the lockdown experience was 'overwhelming' at first, but that he has now gotten used to it.
"It was overwhelming at the beginning when I thought about the days that I had left to be inside the room. I didn't know if I was going to be able to hold out. Now I handle it well," Carlos Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz then went on to list the activities he has been keeping himself busy with during this period of isolation.
"I am always trying to be positive," the 17-year-old said. "I do things all the time, physical, I study to get a driver's license, I speak in English with a friend, the teacher, video calls with my parents, with my friends, with the people of Murcia. If you have little free time, everything goes faster."
I'd like to train with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, couldn't talk much with Roger Federer when I trained with him: Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz was also asked which current players he would like to train with, and the youngster had no hesitation in naming Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
"I would like to train with Rafael Nadal, with Novak Djokovic, in general with the top (players)," Alcaraz said.
Carlos Alcaraz had a training session with Roger Federer at Wimbledon 2019, but he couldn't talk much with the Swiss because of his shyness and also because of the language barrier.
"I didn't speak much English, I was nervous, and I'm shy at first. I didn't get too close to him (Roger Federer)," Alcaraz said.
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