NEW YORK - Two days after introducing himself to tennis fans, Carlos Alcaraz took to the courts on Sunday in front of an 8,000-capacity crowd at Grandstand Stadium for his fourth-round match at the US Open. Even amidst the threat of rain, there was an audible buzz about the 18-year-old sensation.
"Vamos, Carlos!" shouted a fan.
"I heard he was the next Rafa," said another to his friends.
Three-and-a-half hours and five sets later, Alcarz won once again - coming back from a set and entering fourth place against Peter Gojowski - becoming the youngest man to reach the quarter-finals at the tournament at the Open. Era. It was only the third five-set match of Alkraj's career and his second in less than 48 hours. The attendees cheered loudly for everything he said and often chanted for him during breaks.
3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, but tennis insiders have long known of Alcarz's powerful game and limitless potential. For them, reaching the second week of a major comes as no surprise.
It just shouldn't have happened so soon.
"I didn't expect to play the quarterfinals here," Alcaraz said on Sunday.
Again, he's no stranger to the "youngest ever" or "youngest" distinction, as his rapidly growing résumé is full of such accolades. Next, Alcaraz will take on No. 12 seed Felix Auger-Aliassim with a chance of reaching the semi-finals on Tuesday - showing more people what Tsitsipas discovered for himself.
"He could be a Grand Slam title contender," Tsitsipas said after the match. "He has the game to be there."
Alcaraz grew up idolizing fellow Spanish countryman Rafael Nadal, and his ways of celebrating often show an uncanny resemblance. But it was working together with one of Spain's great tennis stars that helped propel Alcaraz to the highest stages of the sport.
In 2018, he began working with Juan Carlos Ferrero, former world No. 1 and 2003 French Open champion, who remains his coach. In the same year, Alkaraz became a supporter. Ferrero immediately recognized the talent of his young hero but knew he had to find a way to rein in his power and maximize his aggression.
"When I met him at the age of 14, 15, I knew about his potential, about his level," Ferrero said on Saturday. "But of course to be that aggressive, you have to control yourself and be able to manage all the shots that you have about his aggression. It's not easy, because sometimes, you You know, a lot of ideas come to your mind to hit the ball, and you have to try not to put all those things together in order not to play out as planned.
“So, Carlos started to manage all these things on the court. Off the court, he is still 18 years old, and he needs to mature more, to be there to control and control his emotions. As for when he has to go with 100 percent of his ability or when he has to use 80 percent or sometimes play with a lot more spins or more flats. So, he orders all things like this On the way to do it, but I think he's in a good way to do it."
Alcaraz can often be seen looking in Ferrero's direction - or shouting or waving his fist - when he is on the court. And as Ferrero has helped propel Alcaraz's career from the lower levels of the game to current heights, his need for recognition is probably understandable.
Alcaraz won his first ITF Futures title in July 2019 at the age of 16 and then started 2020 with back-to-back titles from the same tour. His early-season success earned him a wild card at the Rio Open in February.
In his first ATP Tour-level match at the event, he defeated former world No. 17 Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a tight match that lasted 3 hours and 36 minutes. Alcarz became the youngest player to win a match on the tour since 2013 and the first player born in 2003 to do so. With the suspension of the tour only a few weeks later due to the pandemic, Alcaraz found a way to raise his ranking to 350. Spot by year's end - jumping from No. 491 to No. 136.
He won three Challenger titles after the restart and was named ATP's Newcomer of the Year.
Alcaraz faced Nadal in the second round of the Madrid Open in May 2021. Alcaraz lost the match 6–1, 6–2, but impressed the 20-time major champions in their first meeting.
"When you make a salad and you're putting the ingredients inside the salad, he has a lot of ingredients to be a great player," Nadal said. "That's the main thing. Then, of course, nothing is easy. You will have big rivals in front of you. I mean, nothing is easy in this life.
"It's very difficult to be one of the best players in the world and fight for the most important title, but I truly believe he is one of those people who can do that."
Alcaraz won his first ATP title with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over former top-10 player Richard Gasquet in the final at the Croatia Open in July. With the win, he became the youngest titlelist on the tour since Kei Nishikori in 2008.
Kishor told ESPN in December that his goal for the new season was to be a main draw in all the majors and break into the top 50. He's done them both - and then some.
He reached the second round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and made the round of 32 at Roland Garros. Currently ranked 55th, his win over Tsitsipas has pushed Alcarz to an estimated ranking of 50, and is expected to move up to 38th after Sunday's win.
A win in the quarterfinals would put Alcarz in the top 30.
While Brad Gilbert, former world No. 4 and ESPN analyst, was very familiar with Alcarz's game at the US Open, even he was shocked by what he saw in a third-round mess on Tsitsipas.
"I didn't know he could hit that big," Gilbert said. "I think what surprised me the most was how he was crushing the ball from both sides during the first four games of that match. He absolutely crushes the ball.
"I didn't think he could serve above 126,127 [mph], but he was popping 134. He was hitting forehands over 100 mph. I didn't know he could do that." could. It was great to see live."
Alcaraz was in the unfamiliar position of being the favorite on Sunday against Germany's 32-year-old qualifier Gozowski. Alcaraz said it didn't change the way he prepared for the match, but he struggled at times - he served at 5-4 for the first set, but broke and then lost four games in a row - and he were extremely inconsistent. But when it mattered most, he dominated the final set. They did not lose a single game in the decider and won the match 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.
After he had thrown his racquet and fell to the ground – where he was with his hands outstretched over his face – Alcarz was more prepared, more prepared for this time, after defeating Tsitsipas. She leaned slightly and shook her arms gleefully, and she later blew kisses to the crowd and posed for selfies with fans. He said afterward he was happy to move on.
"I'm super excited to be in my first second week at [a] Grand Slam," Alcarz said. "It's amazing to me. It's like a dream come true."
On Tuesday, he will return to the role of the underdog, although much less now than in the third round of the clash with Auger-Aliasim. Alcaraz never competed against the 21-year-old Canadian, who is also looking for his first major semi-final appearance.
Alcaraz was the second of two teenagers to advance to the last eight on Sunday after 19-year-old Leyla Fernandez defeated Angelique Kerber in the women's draw with 18-year-old Emma Radukanu playing for a spot on Monday. With her success – and that of several other young players such as Auger-Aliassim and past major champions Bianca Andreescu, 21, and Inga Swietek, 20, who both remain in the women's draw – it seems as though the future of tennis has arrived. .
And no matter what happens in the quarterfinals or beyond, Alcarz has convinced many during his remarkable performance at the US Open.
"He's coming like a freight train," said Gilbert. "I don't want to say, 'Oh, he's going to win this or that,' but I will say this: If it were a stock, I'd put a 'buy' rating on it.
"The great thing is he's got a really good coach, and it's all about getting better. Keep improving your game and your movement, keep getting stronger. There's no doubt that he has a top-5." Has the potential to be a player and obviously can be better."