“Alcaraz is increasingly solid and more serene, that will make him win more titles”
“The Mutua Madrid Open has achieved that the tournament is above any tennis player”
MADRID, 16 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The tennis player Álex Corretja assured that “what Rafa Nadal contributes” from the Balearic Islands “is infinite”, so it is “complicated” for the fans and “international tennis” that he continues without playing due to his injury to the iliopsoas leg left, at the same time that he highlighted the “joy” and “determination” of Carlos Alcaraz, destined to be at the top of the ranking for “many years”.
“With Rafa (Nadal) it is very day to day, to see how he feels. We are all waiting to know when he announces his return. It is very important for Spanish and world tennis, what Rafa contributes is infinite. It becomes difficult not to is participating in a tournament”, Corretja said in an interview after an event organized by Rodilla, the new partner of the Mutua Madrid Open for the next five years.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner damaged his iliopsoas in his second-round match at the Australian Open on Jan. play. And the Masters 1,000 in Madrid could be the scene of his expected return, since he will not be in the Conde de Godó either.
Thus, Corretja believes that this season could be crucial in Nadal’s career. “He will never have a mental problem, if he can’t continue it’s because his physique will play tricks on him due to the effort for so many years. Mentally, I think he would never have enough, he would continue playing ‘in aeternum’, that’s my feeling”, he opined.
“NADAL WOULD NEVER HAVE ENOUGH, HE WOULD CONTINUE PLAYING ‘IN AETERNUM'”
The one who is already aiming for the Mutua Madrid Open is Carlos Alcaraz, who will attend the tournament in Barcelona before, before defending the title in the Spanish capital. And Corretja is full of praise for the Murcian. “It’s amazing what he does at his age,” admitted the tennis player, who valued the “somewhat unusual repertoire”, the “naturalness” of the current number two in the world.
“He’s very explosive. He always plays with a lot of joy, he makes people enjoy and that hooks a lot. People pay to see him, because they know they’re going to see a show”, he analyzed, although what he likes most about the winner of eight titles ATP is his “determination” and “way of facing the matches, with joy.” “I like how he moves, how he constantly looks for the point. Every time he is more solid and more serene, that will make him win more titles”, he added.
And his early success, according to the fact that he was also world number 2 in 1999 and a double finalist at Roland Garros (1998 and 2001), is due to the fact that Alcaraz “is physically a bull.” “He is very well prepared and anticipates injuries very well,” he said, although he also stressed that “mentally he is a very mature boy for his age.”
“It is not easy at all to manage to be number one at only 19 years old. He is doing very well, he creates a lot of fans,” said Corretja, who sees the Murcian among “the top five” in the ranking for “many years.” “In this decade there will be different alternatives, because it marks a whole season, and it is very long, with trips, different surfaces. That makes it increasingly difficult, it will not be easy, but I see that it will be up,” he added.
Regarding the Mutua Madrid Open, Corretja celebrated his “impressive success” as a tournament, having already become a “basic” on the ATP and WTA circuits. “They have made the event stand out from any other tennis player. People turn to the Mutua Madrid Open because it has gained a name, because they like tennis and because it is an event that goes beyond sport, it is a social and cultural event “, he applauded.
Finally, the man from Barcelona compared his time with the current one, in which “the players are quite similar, with good serves, a very powerful forehand and a good backhand”. “Before it depended more on tactics, we changed the heights more, now it’s more fixed gear. Everything evolves. I think tennis is in a good moment, because there are different alternatives on the two circuits, but it is very complex, because from the first rounds the parties are a hell”, settled.