Carlos Alcaraz’s rival shares Federer and Nadal want that he will not like
Holger Rune admitted that he wished to try to emulate Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s rivalry with world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Last yr, they grew to become the primary teenage male duo to succeed in the highest 10 in 15 years. But his phrases is probably not welcomed as Alcaraz and his coach have each tried to keep away from the comparisons to the tennis legends.
Alcaraz and Rune cemented themselves as two of tennis’ brightest younger stars final yr, with the Spaniard successful the US Open and turning into the youngest world No 1 in ATP historical past. Meanwhile, Rune downed 5 high 10 gamers in a single week to finish the season by successful the Paris Masters, getting into the highest 10 himself.
At the time, they have been each 19 years outdated. And it made them the primary teenage duo within the elite rankings group since Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Along with younger Italian Jannik Sinner, the trio have usually been touted as the subsequent Big Three – one thing Rune can also be hoping to reflect.
“I do really enjoy it,” the world No 6 informed the ATP, discussing his rivalry with Alcaraz. “And I think why rivalries are so important for the sport is because it grows it bigger. It gets more interest in the sport and if you only have one great player, of course, it’s nice for that one good player. But it’s not as competitive [as] if you have many.”
Looking to the Big Three and a few of tennis’ different well-known rivalries, Rune hoped that he might do the identical with Alcaraz. He added: “I think what Roger, Rafa and Novak did and also Borg, McEnroe, they [brought] tennis to another level and another dimension, and hopefully we can do that also.”
While Alcaraz has additionally usually talked up his rivalries with each Rune and Sinner, the 12-time title winner and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero have tried to keep away from evaluating him to the Big Three. When the 20-year-old defeated Djokovic to win Wimbledon final month, the 23-time Major champion stated he thought Alcaraz was a mixture of himself, Federer and Nadal.
Although he was delighted with such a giant praise, Alcaraz made it clear that he wished to be himself – not a brand new model of the Big Three. “Probably he’s right. But I don’t want to think about it. I going to think that I’m full Carlos Alcaraz, let’s say, but probably I have some great ability from every player,” he responded.
And Alcaraz’s coach Ferrero has been much more agency on his stance in regards to the comparisons between his cost and one other Spaniard – Nadal. “I don’t like to compare him to the others,” the 2003 French Open winner informed Tennis Majors earlier this yr.
Like Alcaraz, Ferrero admitted that they did try to take the very best of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer’s recreation types however stated that the comparisons weighed heavy on the world No 1. “You can say that you need to take the best examples available to add things to your game, absolutely,” he added.
“But you know, Carlos had to hear in the past that he was the new Nadal, etc… It was super heavy on his back. In a sense we were so proud, yes, that people think that, but it was not easy for him and me to hear that all the time.”