Don't compare me to Rafael Nadal, says Carlos Alcaraz
In an interview to Punto de Break in Barcelona, the 15-year-old Carlos Alcaraz Garfia commented on people comparing himself to Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz won his maiden Challenger match earlier this month in Murcia. "My coaches always tell me that I play aggressive and inside the court, but my desire has always been to be similar to Rafa, going behind and hitting thousands of balls. I always saw myself in Nadal, especially for his character and off-court attitude", said Alcaraz. "When they compare me I always say the same thing, I do not want them to compare me to Nadal or a top player because I am still a kid and they are professionals, some of them are on the top ten rankings or even world No. 1s. I do not want them to compare myself to Nadal, he is my childhood idol."
Could he be influenced by these comparisons? "At all, I do not even think about it and I do not feel the pressure. I do not feel the necessity to breakthrough at the moment or of achieving everything and what they are speaking about."
He also spoke about the challenges of being a tennis player: "My friends from Murcia go on the street more, they stay together more. I can only go there once a week. I get connected to them by mobile phone, but I have to make many more sacrifices than them. My day by day is about coinciding tennis with school, I train from Monday to Saturday and I only have a day off, which I use by seeing my friends. In the morning I go to school and I try studying in the night."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2vrjqUF
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