“I want to play in doubles with Nadal at the Paris Olympics.”
Carlos Alcaras with the French Open trophy
“That seems impossible.”
Carlos Alcaras (21, Spain), a men’s tennis nova who became the French Open champion, was humble in front of the ‘Big 3’.
Alcaras defeated Alexander Zverev (Germany) 3-2 (6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-1) in the French Open men’s singles final held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on the 10th (Korean time). ) and won the championship.
Alcaras has been considered the ‘new emperor’ to succeed the ‘Big Three’, Roger Federer (retired, Switzerland), Rafael Nadal (Spain), and Novak Djokovic (Serbia), who have dominated the men’s tennis world for over 10 years.
He won the 2022 U.S. Open at the age of 19 years and 4 months, making history by becoming the youngest person ever to reach number one in the men’s singles world rankings, and last year he also reached the top at Wimbledon.
This year, he slowed down due to injury and his ranking dropped to 3rd, but he was still widely regarded as the strongest player in men’s tennis. Alcaras rises to second place in the newly announced rankings after winning the French Open. 파워볼사이트
By winning the French Open, Alcaras’ position as ‘the strongest since the Big Three’ has become stronger.
Excluding Djokovic and Nadal, Alcaraz’s three wins are the most major championship wins by an active male player.
Alcaras, who previously won the U.S. Open (hard) and Wimbledon (grass), won the French Open (clay) and became the youngest player to win major championships in hard courts, grass courts, and clay courts.
At the press conference after the final that day, it was natural that a question was asked about whether they could approach Nadal and Djokovic’s records.
‘Soil God’ Nadal has won the French Open 14 times, and Djokovic holds the record for most men’s singles wins at a major tournament, with 24 times.
Alcaras humbled himself, saying, “It seems impossible to catch up (with Djokovic and Nadal’s records). Both of them are unusual records. You have to be an ‘alien’ to achieve these records.”
“It’s hard to believe that we’ll be able to catch up with them now. It’s unthinkable right now,” he said.
Among the Big 3, Nadal is even more special to Alcaraz as he is a senior from Spain.
It was considered an ‘annual event’ for the Spanish national anthem to be sung at the awards ceremony on the last day of the French Open, but on this day, the national anthem remained the same, with only the main character changed from Nadal to Alcaraz.
Alcaras hopes to represent Spain in doubles with Nadal at the 2024 Paris Olympics tennis held in the same venue next month.
Alcaras said, “When I return to the Olympics in 40 days, I will think of today’s victory,” and added, “I want to bring a medal to my country and compete in the doubles team with my idol Nadal.”
When Alcaras’ victory was confirmed, Nadal was the first tennis player to send congratulations on social media, saying, “Congratulations on this great victory!” 한국야동