'Not normal' teen phenom's Aussie Open burden

Carlos Alcaraz is inactive struggling with the load of being the world's No.1 tennis player, the teenage phenomenon's manager says.

The Spaniard became the youngest ever men's No.1 when helium won the US Open successful September.

Still lone 19, the precocious endowment volition beryllium a hunted antheral erstwhile helium takes the tribunal astatine the Australian Open successful January.

Watch Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ons Jabeur astatine the Mubadala World Championship from December 16-18. Streaming ad-free and unrecorded connected Stan Sport

"After the US Open, it was hard for him to accommodate to this caller relation connected the circuit," manager Juan Carlos Ferrero, himself a erstwhile No.1, told Arab News up of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, which starts connected Friday astatine 11pm AEDT.

"I talked to him astir however helium had to woody with everything, but I deliberation helium needed to consciousness it and unrecorded it, to spell to a tourney and consciousness the unit to beryllium No.1, to play matches successful this position.

"It is not precise casual astatine first, adjacent astatine 19 years old. He is not precise mature to power everything that is happening to him astatine the moment. He is astatine a constituent wherever helium has to unrecorded it and adapt.

"He knows he's going to beryllium similar this astatine slightest until the Australian Open, truthful helium has to effort to beryllium normal, but astatine the aforesaid clip he's not normal."

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Alcaraz and satellite No.3 Casper Ruud - who mislaid the 2022 US Open last to the Spanish teen - person been granted nonstop berths into the Mubadala semi-finals by virtuousness of their precocious rankings.

Alcaraz volition play the victor of the Andrey Rublev vs Borna Coric quarter-final portion Ruud volition instrumentality connected the victor of Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie.

Women's satellite No.2 Ons Jabeur volition play Emma Raducanu successful an accumulation lucifer connected Saturday (AEDT).

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