Alcaraz: 'Impossible' to match Nadal's 11 Monte-Carlo titles
Carlos Alcaraz won his first Monte-Carlo Masters title on Sunday, but feels the exploits of another Spaniard in this event are out of reach.
Carlos Alcaraz feels it will be "impossible" to replicate Rafael Nadal's 11 Monte-Carlo Masters titles, after claiming his first triumph in the ATP Masters event on Sunday.
The four-time major winner claimed his second ATP title of the season, after beating Lorenzo Musetti 3-6 6-1 6-0 in the final.
Alcaraz's task was aided by a hip injury sustained by the Italian during the first game of the deciding set, as he subsequently ran out a commanding winner.
Aged 21 years and 337 days, the Spaniard surpassed 14-time French Open winner Nadal by 16 days as the youngest-ever men's champion in Monte-Carlo.
It was Alcaraz's ninth triumph in 27 main-draw ATP appearances on clay but, though he certainly has time on his side, he concedes matching his compatriot's track record in this event is a tall order.
"I wish to win it more than once," he said. "Thinking about 11 is impossible, honestly. I have been talking with my team several times to [discuss] what Rafa did on clay.
"It is one of the most difficult things to do in sport, or one of the greatest things he has done, not in tennis, in [all] sports, winning the same tournament 11 times, 14 times, tournaments like this one, tournaments like Roland-Garros.
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"I've just got my first one [in Monte-Carlo]. Obviously, I just want to keep going. Let's see how many I can get. If I just keep it with one, I will be more than happy. It doesn't matter if I don't get any more Monte-Carlo titles, but I will try for it."
Alcaraz also spoke of the importance of remaining focused on the task in hand, and not getting distracted by what is expected from him; an approach he adapted this week, and hopes will serve him well in the coming months.
"A lot of people have really high expectations of me, of having a really good clay season," he said. "They probably want me to win almost every tournament, so it's [going to] be difficult to deal with it.
"But one thing that I learned this last month is, I have to think about myself. I have to just think about my people, my team, my family, my friends, my close friends. No matter what happens on court - if I win, if I lose - I just have to leave the court happy.
"I'm proud about everything I have done. So that's something that I learned, and I think I did it this week, and it paid off."