15-year-old Carlos Alcaraz Garfia follows Rafael Nadal's footsteps after..
Just a day after the Italian Lorenzo Musetti delivered the first Challenger triumph for 2002 generation at Sophia Antipolis event staged by Mouratoglou Academy, the 15-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz Garfia became the first player born in 2003 with a win at this level. In the battle of the youngsters and players who received wild cards, Carlos took down Jannik Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in an hour and 50 minutes at Alicante Challenger, organized by Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy. Alcaraz Garfia wrote history books a year ago at Spain F5 Futures in Murcia, passing qualifying round and scoring two main draw wins at the age of 14 to become the first player born in 2003 with a pro win.
Competing in only the second tournament on pro level this January, Carlos reached the semi-final and also had some excellent junior results in recent weeks, winning J1 Villena before switching focus to his first Challenger match at the very same venue. Moving from Alicante to Murcia with positive vibes, the youngster has managed to achieve another huge result, becoming only the fifth 15-year-old competitor with a win over the rival from the top-200 since 2000, joining Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Bernard Tomic and Ryan Harrison on the special list. In the second round at Murcia Club De Tenis, Alcaraz Garfia toppled world no. 140 Pedro Martinez 6-3, 7-6 in an hour and 46 minutes to become the youngest player who defeated a top-200 rival since the Australian Open 2008.
A teenager played better on the second serve, saving four out of five break points and stealing Martinez's serve twice to prevail in straight sets, staying focused in the second set tie break to start a huge celebration. Alcaraz Garfia did everything right in the opening set, securing a break in game two with a forehand crosscourt winner and securing the opener with another bullet from the forehand in game nine that pushed him 6-3 up. Determined to give his best against an inexperienced rival, Martinez took charge in set number two with a break in game six, creating two set points on the return at 5-2.
Carlos saved both with winners and that gave him the momentum, breaking back in game nine and winning the tie break 7-4 after a well-constructed attack to give the packed crowd something to cheer about. Seventeen years ago, his great compatriot Rafael Nadal claimed the first ATP win at home in Mallorca against world no. 81 Ramon Delgado at the age of 15 years and ten months and it must feel great for the upcoming youngster to share the list with the greatest player from his country, boosting him with confidence to work even harder and catch the attention of the tennis world plenty of time in the years to come.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2P6xTym
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