From the moment Carlos Alcaraz started to show some promise on a tennis court he was compared to Rafael Nadal.

Well, not so much compared to the mighty Rafa but accused of being practically related to him. He was dubbed “The New Rafa”, “Baby Rafa” and a whole host of variations on that theme.

But Alcaraz is not Rafa. True enough, they are both Spanish, they are both brutal warriors on the court but gentle souls away from it and they are both genuinely humble men.

And they both want to win Wimbledon yet have arrived here carrying injury problems (with Nadal, it is his left foot; with Alcaraz, it is his right elbow). But there the similarities end.

The 19-year-old world No.7 (yes, you did read that right – he is the youngest man in the top 10 since 2005 and when he broke into the top 20 in February, he was the youngest man to do so since 1993) likes to think of himself as more Federeresque than as a Nadalito.

Where Nadal does his work from the back of the court, Alcaraz likes to attack; he loves to come forward. Serve and volley is not his game but if the opportunity to move to the net presents itself, he jumps on it.

In theory, then, Alcaraz is made for grass. Except that at the moment, he is still working out how to move on the stuff – and sprinting netwards only works if you can get your feet to co-operate.

“The hardest thing I would say is to move,” he said. “For me to move well on grass is the hardest thing. I would say to play aggressive, trying to go to the net, this is the best part of my game that translates from other surfaces to this one.”

In order to unravel the mysteries of staying upright on the green stuff, Alcaraz has kept his eyes peeled from the moment he got here.

On the practice courts, he is always watching what the other, more experienced grass court men are doing. The other day, he hit with Dan Evans who knows a thing or two about playing at Wimbledon.

“I’m trying to see the training of the best players,” he explained. “I think Dan play very well on grass. I'm trying to copy some things from the best ones.

“I always watch videos of Federer, Djokovic, Rafa, Andy as well, trying to copy the moves and stuffs from them. Of course, watching Rafa. He win so many tournaments on grass. Win twice here in Wimbledon.

“I would say I have a game is going to adapt well on grass, trying to go to the net, playing aggressive. I would say I'm able to play well on grass.

"I couldn't prepare well for Wimbledon this year, but I always come to every tournament thinking that I'm able to do a good result or even able to win the tournament.”

Ah, yes – his preparations. He was not able to play at Queen’s Club because of that elbow problem and even when he played an exhibition match against Frances Tiafoe at the Hurlingham Club last week, his right arm was swathed in bandages.

The positive news was that he came through unscathed. Unsuccessful but unscathed. The strapping was, apparently, more a precautionary measure than an absolute necessity.

Like so many of the players here, he grew up watching Wimbledon on television, seeing his idols play on the historic Centre Court. Now he wants to be a part of that history – although he will have to get past Jan-Lennard Struff on No.1 Court on Monday to have a chance of achieving his goal.

“Wimbledon is one of the most beautiful tournaments in the world for me," he said. "The Centre Court is amazing for me. Of course, has been great matches, historic matches, in this court.

“I remember to watch a lot of matches in the Centre Court since at the beginning of everything, since I was a kid. And, yeah, for me it means a lot to be able to play in this tournament. I will try to pass rounds to be able to play in the Centre Court.”

He is not getting ahead of himself, though. He gave the draw a cursory glance when it came out on Friday just to see who he played first – each day, each round and each match can take care of itself after that.

He may be billed as the next great champion in waiting but, for the moment, Alcaraz believes he is just learning his trade.

“For me right now it's not the most important thing,” he said. “Just is still getting experience in every surface in every tournament. Right now, I'm very focused on the Grand Slams.”

Alcaraz may not be the new Rafa but he has worked out that if he wants to do well at Wimbledon, copying the old Rafa is no bad place to start.

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