RIO DE JANEIRO.- The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcarazwho has not won a title for seven months, is in “a year of transition”, in which he faces greater pressure to maintain the level that has taken him to the top of tennis, the former Iberian racket player said this Friday David Ferrer.
“He is second in the world (in the ATP rankings), you cannot demand that a 20-year-old player always win,” said the former world number three and captain of the Spanish team in the Davis Cup at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro.
“Carlos has played the last year and a half at a very high level, he has won two Grand Slams, a Master 1000. It is also true that it is a progression: (at the beginning) you do not play with so much pressure because you have just started. Now, Carlos is in a year of transition, a year where it is logical that there will be more pressure because it has to maintain that level,” he added.
Alcaraz has had a difficult start to the season, added to a title drought that began after his victory at Wimbledon last July.
He fell in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January, in the semifinals of the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires on Saturday and withdrew in the first round of the ATP 500 in Rio on Tuesday due to a sprained right ankle, which will keep him out for “some days,” he said.
Ferrer calls for calm:
The irregular walk takes place at a time when the Italian Jannik Sinner, champion in Australia, is approaching second place in the world rankings.
“You can’t win everything, I don’t remember Rafa (Nadal), Roger (Federer) or (Novak) Djokovic winning everything at that age either. They also had more critical moments, and it’s an evolution, a maturity. They are different players and “Carlos will make history. I don’t know at what level, but in Spain he will be the second best in history in our sport,” said Ferrer.
“He is intelligent, he is conscious and he evolves, that is why I say that he is a special player, of the caliber of Rafa, Roger or Novak,” said the now 41-year-old coach.
Source: AFP
