Carlos Alcaraz’s astonishing rise to the top of men’s tennis is a sporting miracle, according to one player perfectly placed to comment on the Spanish phenomenon ahead of Wimbledon.
Veteran Feliciano Lopez watched the rise to greatness of fellow-Spaniard Rafael Nadal at close quarters.
Nadal, the injured 22-time grand slam champion, is in the final lap of his illustrious career, but with impeccable timing, Spain has produced a player who has already shown himself capable of filling the void.
The 20-year-old Alcaraz won the Queen’s Club grasscourt title in scintillating fashion last week in what was only his third event on the surface — moving the reigning US Open champion back to the top of the ATP rankings.
He will be seeded No. 1 at Wimbledon and while Lopez still regards reigning champion Novak Djokovic as the favourite, he believes with Alcaraz anything is possible.
“I call him a miracle,” three-time Wimbledon quarter finalist Lopez said at his farewell event in Mallorca this week.
“Spain is not a big powerful tennis country compared to others and it’s crazy to see one great like Rafa about to end his career and then this kid from Murcia arrived.
“Winning a grand slam aged 19, being world No.1 . It’s astonishing.”
Even Nadal took a while to adjust his claycourt game to grass before winning the title in 2008 and 2010.
If anything, Alcaraz’s style is more suited to the lawns. He has a natural sliced backhand when required, volleys confidently, can launch huge serves and as for his forehand, it will leave burn marks on the hallowed Wimbledon lawns.
Alcaraz said the biggest challenge was learning to move on grass, but he erased those worries at Queen’s, winning 10 successive sets and saying he already felt like he had been playing on the surface for10 years.
He reached the fourth round on his debut last year, losing to Jannik Sinner, but it would be a major surprise if he did not go well past that stage this year.
“I think he has the skills to be a great grass court player. He has great hands and moves really good and the movement on the grass is key. Not many players move the way he moves,” Lopez added.
“Before Queen’s he had played only six matches on grass but he’s so gifted and the gifted players can adjust quickly than the rest of the human beings.”
Lopez believes Alcaraz’s fearless approach will serve him well at Wimbledon.
“Of course he will have nerves, as we saw in the French against Djokovic. But he has the ability, like the truly great players, to survive and find a way.”
While Lopez is not entirely surprised by Alcaraz’s fast transition to grass, others are.
“I never thought that Carlos Alcaraz was going to be able to get used to grass so fast,” seven-time grand slam champion Mats Wilander told Eurosport. “For him to get this equation right seems incredible to me.
“To me, Alcaraz has already shown that he can win Wimbledon.”
Security beefed up
Heightened security to prevent protesters disrupting the matches has been put in place, organisers said on Thursday, a day after environmental protesters disrupted the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
All England Lawn Tennis Club is confident it has matters under control.
“We have plans in place to mitigate the risks working in partnership with specialist agencies and the Metropolitan Police,” operations director Michelle Dite said.
