"He reminds me of Rafa when he was that age" - Ferrer on similarities between Nadal and Alcaraz
ATP
Carlos Alcaraz seemingly can't avoid comparisons to Rafael Nadal. Another former Spanish player, David Ferrer, also sees similarities between them.
Despite Alcaraz previously stating that he doesn't want to be compared to Nadal, fans and experts just can't stop seeing the correlations between their careers.
Former ATP World No. 3 player and another successful Spaniard, David Ferrer, also mentioned both names in the same sentence when speaking to the Spanish publication Punto de Break.
According to Ferrer, Alcaraz's ability to cope with pressure is similar to Nadal's at his age. Alcaraz is only 19 years old, and he's already a Grand Slam champion and the youngest World No. 1 player in the ATP's history.
"What can I tell you? What is clear is that he is a special player, different. It is tremendous that at that age he assumes these responsibilities, that he is not afraid of the opposite and that he always wants more."
"That's what amazes me about him. He reminds me of Rafa when he was that age, that way of assuming pressure, he had no problem with that. Apart from that, tennis, physically and mentally he is superior to the others at that age."
Ferrer also spoke about the coach of the reigning World No. 1 player, fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. According to the former Spanish player, Alcaraz wouldn't be able to achieve what he has achieved without Ferrero.
The experienced Spanish coach started working with Alcaraz in his early teenage years, and all the hard work seems to be paying off now.
"Carlos is a player who met all the conditions to get to the place he is now, to be number 1 and win Grand Slams. What I think is that without Juan Carlos he would not have achieved it at this age, he has done an exceptional job to make all this happen."
