ATP Tour

Against Shang, Alcaraz to face a younger player for the first time

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

On Saturday, the Australian Open will witness a career-first for Carlos Alcaraz: He will play someone younger than him for the first time on the ATP Tour. It will happen when the two-time Grand Slam champion squares off against Shang Juncheng in the third round at the season’s first major.

The 20-year-old Spaniard will cross swords with the 18-year-old Chinese star for a place in the Melbourne last 16. In what will be Alcaraz's 201st tour-level match, he will be the elder statesman on court for the first time as a professional.

“I think I’ve experienced situations now where I’ve learned a lot, I’ve matured a lot,” Alcaraz said after getting past Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in four second-round sets. “I’m very young, but I already feel like an experienced player on the Tour. I know how to handle certain situations. I’ve experienced moments of huge tension, Grand Slam finals, dealing with being No. 1 for a number of weeks.

“I don’t consider myself a super-experienced player, but I do have a certain amount of experience now,” he added. “Younger players will continue to appear, like [Dino] Prizmic. Players that are already good enough to take that step and that are very young, like I did in my day.”

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So, given the circumstances, will Alcaraz find it strange playing against a younger opponent for the first time?

“I don’t think so, because I won’t pay any attention to it,” answered the No. 2 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. “We’re going to try to ignore it. We’ll try, of course, to play our best tennis and see what happens, but we won’t think about the fact that he’s younger than me.

“That’s also very good for the tennis, very good for the fans. We’ll try and give the people a good match and I’ll also enjoy the match.”

However, Alcaraz has been keeping an eye on Shang’s latest movements. Before the Australian Open, the Chinese player reached the semi-finals in Hong Kong, defeating Frances Tiafoe in the quarters before bowing out to Andrey Rublev in a close-fought, three-set clash.

“Obviously, I’ll go and watch his matches, highlights, to see more or less how he plays and what kind of game he has," Alcaraz said ahead of the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. “And from there we’ll talk with Samu [coach Samuel Lopez] about the tactics for the match.

"I’ve followed his results. In Hong Kong for example, he had a very good result taking Rublev to a third set. He’s gradually improved. I know that he has the level to be in the situation he’s in, so we’ll have to be focussed.”