Carlos Alcaraz is backed by many former pros and analysts to have a successful future, but he and his team are not focusing on that.
The Spanish teenager is in very safe hands. Throughout the majority of his career, he's worked under Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former ATP player who reached the highest rank in the sport. In his very young career, Alcaraz lifted already one major and became the world no. 1.
But the 19-year-old and his team are focused on constant development and not collecting achievements. In a recent interview with Tennis Majors, Ferrero spoke about how his protégé is able to adapt to his opponents and beat them.
"Let’s say that the first thing I saw was Carlos’ game and how he could be adapted. It’s very difficult to find a player to whom you can tell to play in very different ways, and then he does it. Example: to beat Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final, we made a plan, and this plan was not normally a plan Carlos has all the time. It was kind of similar, but not same. Carlos was able to execute it and prevail."
But it's not a thing of recent weeks. According to the Spanish coach, Alcaraz was able to adapt already when he was 15 years old and when he played against Dominic Thiem, player who reached two Roland Garros finals and won the US Open.
"One of the greatest things I remember about him happened when he was 15, when he practised with players that were much better than him, like Dominic Thiem in Rio de Janeiro. He adapted his speed to Thiem’s speed, which was much faster than he normally hit. I felt before it was one of his assets, but then you could see it. Very few can do that."
There's a lot of buzz around Alcaraz wherever he moves and many want to see him break even more records. Currently, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal share the record for the most Grand Slam titles won by a man, and that's why many ask if Alcaraz can win 22 majors.
"A lot of journalists ask me if he can win 22 Grand Slams. I don’t know. What I know is that he is able to do big things for tennis. Let him play and try. If he wins the second, we’ll ask him when will be the third. It will be a great pressure all the time. So can he do like the others did? I don’t know."
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