From a very young age, Carlos Alcaraz knew what he wanted. That they were not “dreams”, as they asked him that afternoon in June 2015 in which he got to know Paris while watching, important to the important, the matches of Roland Garros on the giant screens installed in the Eiffel tower gardens. Which in his case was the wish of someone who, at only 12 years old, was clear about what his future was, despite his youth. And also, by the way, a warning to sailors of what was coming.
“My favorite tournament is Roland Garros, I want to win there and at Wimbledon”, said Alcaraz then, who as a child “would leave school and run home to plug in the TV and watch it.” Well said and done, just 11 years later. In one fell swoop, London and Paris They are territories already conquered by the Murcian. He enjoys winning and suffering, Alcaraz, and on the other side of the net a combative man regrets it. Alexander Zverev, one of those megastar projects that has run aground, cut off first by the ‘Big Three’ and then, when it seemed that its time was finally coming, by the brilliant emergence of an Alcaraz to which it has now joined Jannik Sinnerrecently elevated to number one.
As he did so many times with his rivals Rafael Nadal, his reference, comes back and destroys him in five sets Alcaraz (6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 and 6-2, in four hours and 20 minutes), one of those chosen ones who does not know the reins when his tennis flows. A wild foal to whom neither his right forearm, limping almost all year, nor the inactivity that slowed him down during the entire clay tour (only three games before Roland Garros) have weighed him down upon arriving in Paris, where he unleashes his entire repertoire, reaching the climax in the final.
The fifth set, Alcaraz territory
The Murcian teaches the best, a lot, and also what he still has to improve. Transparentthis is Alcaraz, a physical and mental roller coaster which makes the player in one set look nothing like the player in the next. Perhaps that, and no other reason, is the only thing that separates him from tyrannizing the circuit. The only thing that, for now, leaves some hope for his rivals when he crosses their path.
Floats like a featherweight, hits like a heavyweight when he is good, like in the first set in which he overwhelms the giant German. Disconnects shortly after and he gives the second and the third, but no one present at the Philippe Chatrier Not even those who see him on TV dare to doubt for a second that he will return. And he does it. As if he were playing with his rival, as if he wanted to excite him and then deprive him of what he most desires, It comes back to bite and this time it does not let go of its prey.
Unbridled and gone in sections, but at times also restful, no mental cracks when the German presses and takes the lead. Alcaraz resets, as he also did against Sinner, varying with his backhand, but also with his forehand, which finally flies as has been usual throughout his career. He fluctuates between good and evil, between virtuosity and blunders, until, although it may sound contradictory, reaches stability at the moment when everyone else trembles.
Looms on the horizon the fifth set, the territory to which Alcaraz irremediably drags Zverev, which although he does not yet know it, he has already lost. There he holds on and despite appearing physically affected, with a right thigh that scares him, lift up to five break balls.
And he clinches, extending a streak that is unprecedented in tennis: the Murcian He has won 11 of the 12 five-set matches he has played. Djokovic, Sinner, Tsitsipas and Cilic were some of his victims, who are now joined by the German. 91% effectivea percentage well above (it is true that with fewer matches) of any tennis legend that leads him directly to victory in Paris.
Another record of precocity
Three Grand Slam finals, three victories. At first, as it already happened in New York and London, bites metal in Paris. Infallible in big events, Paris lights him up at only 21 years, one month and four days old. the youngest in history to win major tournaments on all three surfaces (dirt, cement and grass). Another record of buchaca precocity, almost on par with the time when he became the precocious number one in history, at only 19 years, four months and six days.
“I’ve heard someone say that fact, and I find it absolutely incredible. He even surpasses Novak, Roger and Rafa,” he said in the preview of the final John McEnroewhich precisely the great Parisian resisted from entering that select club of winners on any type of surface.
Because apart from the ‘Big Three’, only Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi they made it. The seventh in all history is the Murcian, the one who has needed the least time. Nobody had done it before turning 22 like the man from Murcia, who He has only let 634 days pass (less than two years) between the first (US Open) and the third (Roland Garros). Although now that, as he holds the Musketeers Cup in his arms, may be what matters least to him.
2024-06-09 17:48:00
#ALCARAZ #WINS #ROLAND #GARROS #land #cement #grass #youngest #win #surfaces #conquering #Roland #Garros
