Carlos Alcaraz does not find much explanation for what happened, already eliminated from this Australian Open for him that is over. “At the US Open [en septiembre] I said that I had gone to the Moon because I started well, here on Earth, but this time I don’t know what happened. I have to see it and talk to my team, because now I’m still hot and I don’t know what conclusions to draw. I’m sure they will tell me things as they are, and from there we will improve. I will improve it, for sure,” the Murcian introduces to the journalists, hurt by the fall in the quarterfinals (6-1, 6-3, 6-7(2) and 6-4, in 3h 05m) and by not having managed to give nor with the answer on the clue. Down there, the German Alexander Zverev has offered an exhibition with the serve and when his rival has made the attempt to get up, saving a 5-2 disadvantage in the third set, he has sunk her again with clubs.
Alcaraz expresses himself from temperance and while those present formulate and try to find the whys, he himself offers the key. You don’t have to look for three feet to the cat. In reality, the explanation is much easier and goes beyond the sophisticated technical and strategic theories that are written: “I am not going to make excuses for my age, but I am 20 years old.” That is, he has practically everything to learn. Among other things, knowing how to handle situations like this has defeated him, because at this point in the film, in a big game, entering on the wrong foot means giving up a generous margin of ground that is difficult to recover later; no matter how good you are, like him, or no matter how much the stands support you: “There was a fourth set because of the public, because of the energy they gave me. Without them, today I would have lost in three.”
Between the lines, Alcaraz comes to ask for understanding, because the extraordinary has become the norm and is still exceptional. Everything is going very fast with him, a boy who until four days ago was playing in the town square and who today imposes himself on chasing Novak Djokovic’s records; Björn Borg’s ones, he says, are of little use to him and from the outside there is a rush because a golden era is ending and it is necessary to quickly renew the product in the window. Federer went out, Nadal is finished and who knows how far Djokovic will go, now alone in the face of danger. And here he is, so virtuous and so imperfect, so much to do and so aware that he has a long way to go until that state of levitation that he aspires to reach one day.
He is asked if last year’s collapse against Djokovic at Roland Garros, the New York decline against Dannil Medvedev – the Serbian’s rival in this Friday’s semi-finals – and this last episode have any kind of relationship, he denies.
“They are separate chapters,” he responds. “I think it’s something normal that happens to me. The good thing is that we know, we know that these types of things happen to me and that we have to work on them so that they happen less or do not happen to me at all. But if we go a little further back, before it happened more frequently and now it happens sporadically, which indicates that we have improved and continue to advance. It’s something that doesn’t worry me. It’s something I know I’ll change, I know I’ll turn it around and these kinds of things won’t happen to me or, if they do, I’ll come back quickly. So let’s improve it and you will see a change.”
green competitor
So far navigating the tournament with relative comfort, with solid victories against Richard Gasquet, Lorenzo Sonego, Juncheng Shang and Miomir Kecmanovic, he had not made more concession than a set (against the second of them) and before the fight with Zverev he had fired the delusions. “I tell you, my name is miracle,” he addressed Rod Laver when he, a pure tennis legend, announced that the organization could now give Djokovic the trophy. Still possessed by the post-match adrenaline, Alcaraz left a sentence for history and two days later, the German’s hammer and those logical difficulties to maintain speed and not falter stopped him.
“Juan Carlos [Ferrero, su entrenador, ausente en Melbourne] “He always insists on the need for me not to relax during the games,” he said a few days on the Eurosport channel. The lowering of the piston against Zverev costs him dearly and adds to the episodes last year in Paris and New York. In any case, and no matter how much the fireworks from the throne, the US Open (2022) or Wimbledon (2023) represent the first sparks of a career that aims to be golden, the Murcian is in the midst of a learning process, completely to do from a competitive point of view. Green, despite early successes.
“Little by little I will improve it, for sure,” he says emphatically. “Because if I want to do great things in the Grand Slams, if I want to win more, these kinds of things [la salida en falso contra Zverev] I have to improve them. If this happens to me, then coming back is not impossible, but it is practically impossible. It is very difficult against this type of player to come back from this type of match”, says goodbye to the player from El Palmar, while the winner enjoys his first victory in a major tournament against a top-5 and explains before colliding with Medvedev (7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4 against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz): “I was extremely aggressive at the beginning. It was something like taking the racket out of his hands, because against him you have to do that. If you let him control the point and the pace of the game, he is unbeatable.”
MANY POINTS TO DEFEND
A. C. | Melbourne
After the intense month in the antipodes, Alcaraz will return to Spain to rest for a few days and then get in shape for the clay tour in South America. In principle, the Spaniard will play the tournament in Buenos Aires, from February 12 to 18, and will then head to Rio de Janeiro (from the 19th to the 25th). Later would come a visit to Indian Wells and Miami, with an intermediate stop in Las Vegas to play an exhibition (promoted by Netflix) against Nadal, on March 3 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. Starting in April he will compete on the European arena.
The Murcian must defend towards Roland Garros up to 4,175 points, given last year’s performance. He triumphed in Buenos Aires, reached the final in Rio, won for the first time in Indian Wells and reached the semifinals in Miami. He later opted not to play in Monte Carlo to correct himself and then repeated titles in Barcelona and Madrid. In Rome he failed in the third round. Already in the great Parisian, Djokovic stopped him in the semifinals.
Located in second place in the world, he will have to deal these weeks with the threat of Daniil Medvedev, who could unseat him this Sunday if he triumphs in Melbourne.
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