as in Roland Garros, he achieves an impossible point nailed to another of Federer

2023-07-11 15:17:15

Comparisons are almost always hateful, and even more so when on the other side of the mirror there are legends like Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal, but what Carlos Alcaraz is achieving at only 20 years old is so amazing that it leads his numbers and successes to be compared. with those of the best in history. With Nadal it is done because he is also Spanish and because of that ability to fight all the balls that both have. With Federer, because of their imagination and the offensive tennis they play. In the round of 16 match against Berrettini, Alcaraz invented a running backhand point in which he puts the ball between the net (it goes through the side, not over it) and the chair umpire. The official Wimbledon account was quick to remember that Federer achieved something very, very similar. “Sound familiar?” they ask.

Federer did it against Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round of 2009 and the difference is that the Swiss does it on the other side of the court, and he has to put the ball between the ball boy and the net. That edition of Wimbledon ended up conquering her, only a month after having also won her first and only Roland Garros and the following year after having given in the final against Rafa Nadal, in which for many people in the world of tennis it is the best match. of history.

The curious thing is that at Roland Garros 2023 a similar action by Alcaraz already went viral, an impossible point that is practically never seen on a tennis court that he achieved against Djokovic in the semifinals, and that Federer had made on the same stage a few times. years before.

Alcaraz has never hidden his admiration for Federer. In fact, in an interview they did with him as a child, he already said that it was his idol. The thorn in the Spaniard’s side is that they could never face each other, although they did share a training session in 2019, when the Murcian was playing the junior edition of Wimbledon. During the Queen’s dispute, a tournament that Carlos ended up winning, he also recognized that to play better on grass he watched videos of Federer and Murray to improve mobility, which was what cost him the most on this very special surface.

Alcaraz also says that hopefully he will win a small part of what Federer has achieved, responding again when they compare him with him. The Spaniard’s career has only just begun and at the age of 20 he already has a Grand Slam (and four 1,000 Masters), he is number one in the world (the youngest in history), he has played in the Roland Garros semifinals and now he is going to play the Wimbledon quarterfinals.