Opinion – James Spencer (Twitter – @jspencer28)
18-year-old sensation Carlos Alcaraz would have been living on cloud nine after his shock triumph a fortnight ago at the Miami Open.
The Spaniard has quickly become the talk of the town on the ATP Tour with many experts within the game calling him the next Roger Federer.
Some have even called him the ‘mini-Nadal’ after idol and countryman Rafa Nadal.
It’s no secret that Alcaraz admires the record 21 Grand Slam champion.
He has even bulked up in the last year to model a new muscley physique, with better all-round fitness and he’s now hitting through the ball with supreme power.
The hard work in the gym and on the tour has clearly paid off as Alcaraz tore through the draw in Miami with impressive wins against the likes of established players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz.
This was topped off with victory in the final against the current world number seven Casper Rudd.
He has shown maturity beyond his years.
However, he was brought back down to earth this week in Monte Carlo.
21-year-old Sebastian Korda was able to inflict defeat on the teenager, in the battle of the two biggest young stars tennis has on offer right now.
The American came through in the round of 32, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3.
Of course, it was a close match, where Alcaraz was lucky to escape from Alcatraz in the second set.
But the premise is that, he will be disappointed to go out at the first hurdle, particularly when so much is expected of him now.
Being one of the youngest ever Masters 1000 winners, let alone the youngest ever in Miami, will have added a lot of weight on his young shoulders.
So, in some small way, this loss is not a surprise.
Another disappointment would be that with Nadal being the King of Clay, and reigning supreme in the principality on so many occasions, his absence with a rib injury would have been the perfect occasion for Alcaraz to step out of his shadow.
For sure Alcaraz will be keen to take his mantle in Barcelona next week, a home tournament for the youngster as well.
With the main show-court named Pista Rafael Nadal,this is yet further motivation for the El Palmar native to do well there.
Having reached the semis at Indian Wells and losing to his idol, and backing this up with a superb victory in Miami, only time will tell if Alcaraz can master clay as quickly as he has mastered hard courts.
