“I think we’re making a bit too much of him” : Tennis legend expresses concern over Carlos Alcaraz’s growing hype
Carlos Alcaraz is undoubtedly the poster boy of this generation of tennis. The 21-year-old has widely been recognized as the next tennis great to have ever played the game. The Spaniard has all the accolades to back up that claim as well. Carlos Alcaraz has won four grand slam titles including five masters 1000 titles already. Most tennis players are not able to achieve such a feat their whole career.
But with such immense hype around you at a young age, one will be prone to face a fair-few criticisms. Most recently, Romanian and tennis great Ion Tiriac shared his thoughts on the Spainard, acknowledging his greatness but also expressing concern that too much commercial pressure is being placed on him. Tiriac advised the media and fans to be patient with the Spaniard, and let him grow and develop instead of prematurely capitalizing on his success and pressurizing him for economic benefits.
“He’s (Alcaraz) a talented player, he’s sensational, he has incredible leg speed and power, but I think we’re making a bit too much of him, that we already want to reap the economic benefits when we’re only at the beginning of his career, we have to be much more patient, leave him alone because the dollar we earn today is nothing compared to what we can “earn” in a few years,” said the 85-year-old (via We Love Tennis).
The Romanian businessman also explained that Carlos Alcaraz should be kept ‘alone’ at this stage of his career, as financial rewards using his name can be reaped later on as well, but so much hype would be of no use if the world no.3 does not improve his abilities and sink into the hype so early.
Carlos Alcaraz vows to keep on building himself up
It would be a dream for any young tennis player to have a career the Spaniard’s have had up until now. The world no.3 continues to solidify his position as he recently won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics, just two tie-breaking sets shy of winning the gold against Novak Djokovic. Carlos Alcaraz recently spoke up on his achievements so far and aims to build up on it, or else the efforts which made him reach where he is now would not matter.
“Obviously it’s a really great start to my career but I have to keep going. I have to keep building my path and at the end of my career I would want to sit at the same table as the big guy. So that’s my main goal, that’s my dream right now,” said the Spainard during a press conference.
He will be hoping to climb to the world no.1 spot at the end of this year which is one of his main goals, as he eyes on winning the 2024 US Open.
