Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon defence labelled ‘impressive’ by his coach

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach vowed the young Spaniard will stay humble as he continues to make tennis history.

The 21-year-old became the youngest man in the Open era to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back after defeating Novak Djokovic for the second year in a row at the All England Club on Sunday.

Alcaraz has reached four grand slam titles at a younger age than Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal and speaks openly about wanting to match or surpass their achievements.

His long-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero told the PA news agency: “It’s absolutely impressive. I think it’s one of the difficult things that Carlos has just done.

“It’s impressive to have these kind of important tournaments and we only try to keep calm, stay humble and keep working.”

Last year Alcaraz came out on top of an epic five-set battle but this time he dominated from the start to win a slam final in straight sets for the first time.

He survived a late wobble when he let slip a 40-0 lead serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set, putting it behind him to clinch a 6-2 6-2 7-6 (4) victory in a tie-break.

Former world number one Ferrero said: “Definitely every match he’s been through it’s a new experience and of course these kind of matches gives you the experience that you need for the coming ones.

“It’s going to help him for sure after losing the match points and recovering and winning at the end.”

Alcaraz capped a perfect sporting day by watching Spain win the European Championship, and he will now turn his attention to trying to achieve more success for his country at the Olympics in Paris.

As the reigning French Open champion, he will go into the tournament as the favourite for singles gold, while he is also teaming up with Rafael Nadal in the doubles.

Ferrero admitted it is going to be a difficult challenge with so little time to prepare, saying: “We will try. It’s tough to change the surface to clay. We have to rest some days and then try to be ready again.”

Also heading to the Olympics is Djokovic, with an Olympic gold medal the one major honour missing from the Serbian’s collection.

Alcaraz described Djokovic as “Superman” for his run to the Wimbledon final only a few weeks after knee surgery, and the 37-year-old is determined to bounce back and keep chasing his young rivals.

“I still have intentions to play Olympic Games, hopefully have a chance to fight for a medal for my country,” he said.

“Let’s see how physically and mentally I’m going to feel. Hopefully I can find the right tennis because I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.”

Asked if this might have been his last Wimbledon, Djokovic said: “As far as coming back here, I would love to. I don’t have anything else in my thoughts right now that this is my last Wimbledon.

“I don’t have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level.

“I’ve had so many different experiences throughout my career. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger. That’s what I’m going to do.”