Following in Nadal's footsteps, Carlos Alcaraz, 16, makes ATP debut

It was quite an introduction to the ATP Tour for 16-year-old Carlos Alcaraz this week.

He hadn't even expected to get a wild card for Rio, and wound up being the youngest player to win an ATP match since 2013—and the youngest Spaniard since Rafael Nadal in 2002.

"I was surprised. It's my first ATP tournament," Alcaraz told the ATP. "I'm very happy to be playing here in Brazil. It's a unique experience."

It would be even more memorable than he expected. The teenager didn't just win his first ATP-level match, he did it with a third-set tiebreak victory against tour veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas that took more than three-and-a-half hours, and finished at 3:00 a.m.

"This has been the longest and most intense match I've played so far," he said following his win. "There were quite difficult conditions, but if you have the right attitude, the conditions don't matter. You can achieve anything."

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Though he fell in the second round in another three-setter, he has established himself as a player to watch.

But if Alcaraz was an unfamiliar name on tour till this week, his game shouldn't be—his forehand and backhand swings resemble Nadal's, but he's also modeled his play on another legend.

"I like to play very aggressively, with a lot of winners," he said. My style is more or less like Roger Federer’s, aggressively coming to the net and playing a lot of drop shots."

Alcaraz is coached by former No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, and has learned a lot from his country's Grand Slam champions.

"When I spend time with tennis greats like Rafa or Ferrero or any other player, I don't say anything. I listen to everything they say," he said.

Standing at No. 406 coming into this event, he will climb several spots in the rankings.