Carlos Alcaraz, the new prodigy who flees from the shadow of Rafa Nadal

• Rafa Nadal: How does the new protocol affect your rituals?

• Garbiñe Muguruza: A hopeful balance in Rome

Rafael Nadal

made his debut as a professional on the ATP circuit when

(El Palmar, Murcia, 2003) was one year old.

16 later, the Murcian sought in Paris the dream of being able to face him in his first ATP tournament:

.

He could not achieve it and fell in the first match of the previous round, but his explosion has made all eyes turn to the young man who

.

From 310 to 186 thanks to his first victory in a Challenger, in

at the end of August, where he chained seven victories from the pre-final.

He was about to do it again a week later at

, where he was a finalist.

He is the fourth Spaniard to win a trophy with less than 18 years of age after Nadal,

and

, and the

, with technique, mentality and passion to sneak among the best.

This is how his father, Carlos, a former professional tennis player, and his coach,

, who opted to be his mentor two years ago describe him.

Carlos barely now has time to stop by the

, where he grew up with a racket in hand.

His father is the director of the school after his brief stint on the professional circuit.

«I was the 42nd of Spain, child runner-up, Murcia champion ... But in the nationals, he always played me against

and he gave me for the hair.

I added some ATP point, but he has surpassed me », Carlos Sr. tells EL MUNDO.

Your son's progression has not caught you by surprise.

It is not the result of an obsession to create a champion, but of the accompaniment of what he soon discovered was his passion.

«At five he created a group with two other outstanding children of the club.

.

But above all he had passion, "he explains.

«He went to school beating the air with his hand or juggling with the racket.

When we got to the club he would spend hours on the fronton until training time.

I had to get angry to get him out of there.

Passion and perseverance.

"If a blow got into his head ...

", continues Carlos, who has never wanted to be his coach .

«I learned about the case of Sergi Bruguera and his father Lluis.

They collided a lot and that deteriorated their relationship.

I looked for another formula to be able to enjoy my son ».

Alcaraz, along with Carlos Santos and his partner Pedro Cobacho FAMILY ALBUM

He entrusted the work to

, who served as a coach / educator until he was 13 years old, when Alcaraz's talent was already very evident.

“We put him to play with 10-year-olds and in the first tournaments he reached the semifinals.

He played with the number 1 of Murcia, who took two heads from him and had been competing for three years, and made him match.

He gave his face, despite being a tadpole, "he recalls.

Sponsor at age 10

Then another pillar appeared in his career.

“I wanted to take Carlos to a tournament in Pula, Croatia, which is considered the U10 World Championship. He was ready, but I needed someone to help me with the expenses.

And then they introduced me to

».

The general director of

, a leading Murcian company in dairy desserts, did not hesitate to become a patron of the young promise.

«Your help has been essential.

We put the sticker on his shoulder, but how visible is a 12 or 13 year old?

He did it because he wanted to and has become part of our family.

They are grateful to him because with his support they have been able to

,

admits Carlos's father.

With 15 years, projection and economic stability, the boy went to the Equelite de Ferrero academy in Villena.

In him he has found a second father, who has decided to devote himself to shaping the innate qualities of the Murcian.

"He is a dynamic player, with self-confidence, who despite his youth

... I was attracted by the possibility of helping him build himself since he was a child" the former number 1, who flees from the comparison with Nadal.

"I do not like.

It is a very heavy slab and a mistake.

Carlos is going to take his own path », he warns.

Carlos, at the Roland Garros Longines sub-13 FAMILY ALBUM

Ferrero knows what it's like to take off very soon.

«My experience makes me warn him of the dangers, but he has to mature on his own.

.

We are going slowly, "adds the now coach, who sees the physical change he has made in the last year as key to his progression.

For now, Paris has already taught him a

: his nerves led him to waste two match balls against

and cut off his attempt to reach the final

of the tournament.

"It would not be a mistake to fall in qualifying," said the young tennis player hours before his debut.

Now comes a time for reflection.

Carlos, barely had time this summer to eat a stew with

his mother's

and

, a sport that relaxes him and that he shares with Ferrero.

He has been from tournament to tournament with a very high performance and concentrated in the Villena academy cabin.

There he spent the confinement with

as a neighbor, building a

.

The Spaniard was waiting for him in the final table in Paris with open arms, but the Murcian already only thinks about the Challengers of Barcelona and Villena and Stockholm.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Rafael Nadal

• sports

• tennis

• Roland Garros

US Open and finally, a 90s champion in New York

TennisThe Nadal of a lifetime

US Open 2020Novak Djokovic, disqualified from the US Open for hitting a linesman

See links of interest

• Last minute

• Spanish translator

• Programming

• 2020 calendar

• Horoscope today

• Movies Today

• Topics

• Coronavirus