Carlos Alcaraz hopes to inspire ‘beast’ Fernando Alonso to a 33rd F1 race win

Tennis News
Carlos Alcaraz chats to the media

Carlos Alcaraz was still in his nappies when Fernando Alonso was at his peak, but the world No 1 is a member of the “El Plan” bandwagon these days and hopes to inspire his compatriot to a 33rd Formula 1 race win.

Alcaraz was just two years old when Alonso won his first F1 World Championship title in 2005 and he was still too young to know anything about the sport when the F1 great won his second title a year later.

Alonso remained at the top of his game until 2013 with the last race of his 32 grand prix wins coming for Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and by then Alcaraz was only 10 years old.

Alonso struggled over the next few years, but his move to Aston Martin this year has raised hopes that he could return to the front and pick up win No 33. Those hopes escalated after he finished on the podium in the first two races of the 2023 season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

On the back of his success in the Middle East, Alcaraz wrote on one of his compatriot’s Instagram posts, saying: “You motivated me to the Indian Wells finals! You are a BEAST! ”

Alcaraz not only reached the finals, but he went on to win the Indian Wells Open title to return to No 1 in the ATP Rankings.

The world No 1 is hoping to complete the Sunshine Double this week as he is in the quarter-final of the Miami Open and after his win over Tommy Paul he wrote “33 –> Soon” on the camera lens in reference to Alonso.

The respect was mutual as the 41-year-old Alonso replied: “Lock up this man!!! You are a phenomenon ! Come on!!!”

Alcaraz shared more about his love for Alonso with ATPTour.com/es, saying: “I’m spurring ‘Fer’ on to see if he can get his 33rd win in Australia. To me it’s crazy what he’s doing at his age. He’s basically in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship. It’s great to have him there.”

Alcaraz is now very much a big fan of “El Plan” – the code name Alonso has given for his F1 plans.

“I have to admit that I’ve never been particularly interested in it, but Fernando has made me into a Formula 1 fan,” the reigning US Open champion said.

“He’s made me watch races, made me support him. And what better way to support Fernando than with a message on the camera?”

Top seed Alcaraz will continue his chase for the Sunshine Double on Thursday as he will take on eighth seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-final.

READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz keen to play Novak Djokovic at his peak – ‘When he’s 100 percent, he’s the best’

Carlos Alcaraz

Latest