Spanish Sports Council President Jose Franco wants Carlos Alcaraz to follow Rafael Nadal’s footsteps by winning the Barcelona Open
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Carlos Alcaraz
It has been a great start to the year for Spanish youngster Carlos Alcaraz who will now have to play in front of his home fans at the Barcelona Open. The 18-year-old became the youngest ever to win the Miami Open but then bowed out in the opening exchanges in Monte Carlo against Sebastian Korda. So it was not the start on clay that he was expecting but now he will have to get in the groove as the expectations will be high from him in Barcelona, especially in Rafael Nadal’s absence.
Recently Jose Manuel Franco, president of Spain’s Sports Council lavished a lot of praise on Alcaraz as he wishes to see the Spaniard lift the Barcelona Open. In an interaction with Mundo Deportive Franco highlighted how Alcaraz should follow the footsteps of his compatriots Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer to win the ATP 500 event in front of his home fans.
“We are waiting to see if Carlos Alcaraz can win [the Barcelona Open] and can follow in the wonderful and exemplary wake of tennis players like [Tommy] Robredo, [David] Ferrer, [Sergi] Bruguera …all the exemplary tennis players in Spain and the great Rafa Nadal at the helm,” Franco said in excitement to see what unfolds for the Spanish teenager.
After disappointment in Monaco, Carlos Alcaraz will look to get some moment at the Barcelona Open
It has been a great start to the year for Carlos Alcaraz but now with the clay court season coming up, the Spaniard should start ticking the right boxes from Barcelona to make a strong case for him in Paris in a few weeks.
His year started with a third round exit at the Australia Open where he forced Matteo Berrettini to five sets and fought really hard only to end up on the losing side. He then carried that confidence to Rio Open where he bagged the title beating Diego Schwartzmann in the finals. His great form continued at the Indian Wells where he was beaten by his idol Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in a very close game.
However, he finally unleashed when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas, Miomir Kecmanovic and defending champion Hubert Hurkacz en route to the finals. It was a terrific run as he played some sublime tennis. He then defeated Casper Ruud to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title and also became the fifth-youngest to at least reach the semifinals stage at the Sunshine Double in a year.
However, Alcaraz will now look to put his demons of Monte Carlo behind him and look for a fresh start in Barcelona. The youngster is the fifth seed in the tournament and will start his campaign against South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo in the second round. This will be their first meeting which will only make things interesting.
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Atrayo Bhattacharya
(193 Articles Published)