‘Carlos Alcaraz is a great player, but ‘Nadal’ is a big word,’ says former world number three

David Ferrer has tipped Carlos Alcaraz to win multiple Grand Slams, but he says comparisons with Rafael Nadal are very premature.

Alcaraz is having a breakthrough year, winning the Miami Masters, the Madrid Masters, Acapulco and Barcelona already.

He is also in the semi-finals of Hamburg, and that has put him in second place in the race to Turin behind Nadal, who has won two of the three Grand Slams this season.

Former world number three Ferrer says it is ‘clear’ that Alcaraz is destined for a great career, although he is understandably reluctant to bring Nadal into the conversation until the teenagers has earned it.

“Alcaraz is a great player, and without a doubt he is going to be a much better tennis player than me, that is very clear to me, but Nadal is a big word,” Ferrer told Super Deporte.

“Carlos has to make his career, but I’m sure he’s going to reach number one and win grand slams, because mentally he’s a very well-established player.”

There has been a lot of pressure on Carlos Alcaraz for some years now as his talent became apparent at a very young age.

At times it has felt like tennis has been waiting for him to arrive with huge expectations, but Ferrer says the fact Alcaraz seems to be coping so well with that is down to the people he has around him.

“I know his team very well, from his representative Albert and his coaching staff with Juan Carlos Ferrero at the helm, who has also had the experience of being world number one, and has very clear ideas.”

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