“I’ve got to pull for home court” - Jon Rahm cheers on Carlos Alcaraz, celebrating Spanish tennis excellence at the US Open
They say that tennis and golf are antagonistic sports, as they have the same target audience. Jon Rahm is one of those few who doesn't believe that. Being one of the best golfers in the world, he enjoys tennis enough to attend top-level events whenever he can.
Such is the case of the US Open tennis, currently underway in New York. Jon Rahm has been seen at the Arthur Ashe Stadium enjoying the event, although he missed the opportunity to see his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.
In an interview with Golf.com at the very facility that hosts the US Open Tennis (Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York), Jon Rahm showed his admiration for Alcaraz. He also showcased his tennis knowledge and mentioned that he follows the young Spaniard much more than anyone would think. Here's an excerpt from Jon Rahm's interview with Golf.com:
"Obviously. I have to root for Carlos. I've got to pull for home court in Spain. It's incredible what he's done. My fault that I didn't know much about him until he popped up at a U.S. Open and now all of the sudden he's number 1 in the world."
He added:
"I'm a big Rafa fan, like many others, but he inspired a big generation of people to love tennis in Spain, and I think we're seeing the dividends of that with Carlos coming out. Any time you're breaking any records that Novak [Djokovic], Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal] weren't able to do, you know you're doing something very special."
Jon Rahm also confessed to Golf.com that he couldn't support Alcaraz live due to conflicts with his flight departure time. The Spaniard is set to leave for Italy to play in the Ryder Cup as one of the stars of Team Europe.
Jon Rahm's history with other sports
Being one of the world's top golf stars does not prevent Jon Rahm from enjoying and following other sports in addition to tennis. This can be traced to his younger days, because before deciding to play golf, he practiced soccer, canoeing, padel, and kung fu.
Currently, Rahm enjoys soccer like any other Spaniard, especially La Liga (the Spanish soccer league). He is a fan of Athletic Club de Bilbao, the team that represents the Basque region (Rahm is a native of Barricas, Biscay, in the Basque Country).
But there is no doubt that he was destined for golf. After discovering the sport during the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama, Rahm developed so much and so precociously as a player that he received a scholarship to Arizona State University without the recruiters having seen him play live.
The rest is history. Rahm's passage through all levels of golf has been meteoric. Maybe enjoying other sports helps him with that.