Carlos Alcaraz, training at Melbourne Park, this Friday. /
Tennis
The Murcian tennis player is confident of going further than in 2021: “Reaching the third or fourth round would be a good result”
Carlos Alcaraz is confident of doing well in the first Grand Slam of the year. His goal at the Australian Open that starts on Monday is to go further than the second round, a result he obtained in 2021, a year that, according to his own statements, was great for “everything achieved and experienced.” “I hope I can top what I did last year. Going to the third or fourth round would be a good result, “said Alcaraz (32 in the ATP) in statements to Eurosport. The 18-year-old tennis player from Murcia will debut in Melbourne against Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (136 in the ATP). Last year he fell in the second round against the Swedish Mikael Ymer (6-2, 4-6, 4-6 and 6-7). In the first round he was able to beat the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp (6-1, 6-1 and 6-4).
Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil has also talked about his goals for this season: “It would be great to finish the season in the ‘Top 15’ and even qualify for the ATP Finals. I know it’s a super difficult goal, but not impossible.”
Alcaraz traveled to Australia last Saturday. It was a trip “a bit hard because there are many hours of flight and the time change undoubtedly affects a lot. In my first days here I noticed that it took me a bit to get used to the schedules and the heat but I’m ready”, said the tennis player from El Palmar, who added that he has integrated very well with the rest of the Spanish players: “We are all very united and that is a very positive thing. I get along very well with Pablo Carreño, who is the one I train with most often, but I also have a great relationship with many Spanish tennis players. There is a lot of talent and we encourage each other.”
The Chilean Tabilo, his first rival in Australia, trained at Nick Bollettieri’s IMG academy in the United States between 2011 and 2015.2. He won the Orange Bowl under-16 tournament in doubles in 2012. In 2018 he suffered from overweight problems, weighing almost 100 kilos and suffering from lower back pain. This prevented him from achieving victories on the circuit and made his ATP ranking very poor, hovering around 800. In a few months he lost weight abruptly until he reached 65 kilos. His successes came in 2019 when he was part of his country’s Davis Cup team against Germany.
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