Carlos Alcaraz, like the Road Runner, travels fast through the ATP roads raising dust. Today, at the age of 18 on May 5, he appears for first time among the 100 best players in the world, in 94th place. The youngest among them and one of the three under 20 years of age along with the Italians Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner, both 19.
The Murcian thus jumps another barrier, that of the top-100, with the title obtained on Saturday in the Challenger of Oeiras (Portugal) against Argentine Facundo Bagnis (31 years and 109th) for a double 6-4, the fourth title of his career in the second echelon of the circuit.
Very happy to win the @ATPChallenger OeirasOpen and for being among the top 100 thanks to all of you who are supporting me every day.
Very happy to win the @ATPChallenger Oeiras Open and to be among the top100, thanks to all of you who are with me supporting me every day. pic.twitter.com/DWCJL3bGGy– Carlos Alcaraz (@ alcarazcarlos03) May 22, 2021
“I will always remember this moment, the club, the location … Going into the top-100 for the first time is beautiful. But at the same time I have to give it the greatest naturalness. Roland Garros is approaching and it is the focus. Getting into the top 100 with frozen rankings isn't easy, but I'm a guy who likes to overcome adversity. “, he declared in Portugal before taking a plane to Paris, where this Tuesday he begins the previous one against Lucas Lacko (33 years and 212º).
Alcaraz travels through 2021 at high speed: he won David goffin (14th) in the Great Ocean, surpassed the previous in Australia and won his first match in a big, reached the semifinal of Marbella ATP 250, conquered his first match in a 1,000 Masters, that of Madrid, until he came across the harsh reality of Rafa Nadal … Learning at a brisk pace between praise.
“He is evolving a lot and skipping stages very fast. On the eve of the Roland Garros qualifier, it is very good to have these sensations,” says Juan Carlos Ferrero, his coach, who this year has set him the goal of finishing among the top 60 and who remembers that Alcaraz should not be compared with Nadal, who entered the top-100 at 16 years and 10 months. At 18 and a month Djokovic and Federer did. A cut that has also already surpassed that of El Palmar.