After beating Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 and 7-6(3), Carlos Alcaraz is asked if he knows the information: Shang Juncheng, the rival who awaits him this Saturday (around 4.00, Movistar+) in the third round of the Australian Open, he is the first to be younger than him since he left his junior stage behind. In his 293 games as a professional, he had never before encountered someone younger, the young Chinese is 18 years old (140th in the world) and the one from El Palmar is 20, who has been on the circuit for three years and is already considered an experienced player despite his youth. . He tells Carlitos that he is gaining flight hours and that it helps him see things with a better perspective. Of course, he still has a lot to learn.
“I think I have already experienced situations in which I have matured a lot. I know how to deal with certain moments of maximum tension, Grand Slam finals, dealing with number one for quite a few weeks… I don’t consider myself super experienced, but I more or less have my experience,” he answers the question posed by this newspaper; “We’re going to try not to pay too much attention to that. It simply means that more and more younger players are coming out, like Prizmic [el croata de 18 años que le arañó un set a Novak Djokovic el primer día]; They are very young and have the level to take the first step, like I did. “I think that is very good for tennis and for the fans.”
Alcaraz, he tells reporters, will try to mentally omit the thought about age and focus exclusively on one thing: “Let’s try to eat him.” At the moment, the Asian has knocked down Mackenzie McDonald and the Indian Sumit Nagal, and is presented in the form of a question mark, new to this third round of a great. First, it seems like another good opportunity for the Spaniard to continue oiling his tennis and polishing different aspects. Sonego has sought to tickle him and the day was not very conducive to glare due to the wind and the coming and going of the sun, but beyond giving up a partial, he leaves satisfied to the hotel because he has delivered.
It is the first time that he has landed in the third round of the Australian great and he already has 200 matches in the elite: 157 wins and 43 losses. Carlitos is becoming and progressing these days in Melbourne, while Spanish tennis regrets one fact: with the eliminations of Alejandro Davidovich – surpassed by the Portuguese Nuno Borges (7-6 (7), 6-3 and 6-3, after 2h18) – and Paula Badosa –7-5 and 6-4, in 1h 28m against Amanda Anisimova—, now only he remains as the sole representative. The reality is harsh, because history highlights the poorest record in Spain in 25 years; To find the precedent you have to go back to 1999, when only Conchita Martínez and María Sánchez Lorenzo were able to avoid the cut of the first two stations.
Meanwhile, Chinese tennis celebrates the progress of Shang, with a left-handed and electric profile, although in the men’s territory his present is not too hopeful: he only has Zhizhen Zhang (49th) in the top 100. On the other hand, in the female category it enjoys better health, with six representatives in that group: Qinwen Zheng (14th), Xinyu Wang (37th), Xiyu Wang (62nd), Yue Yuan (63rd), Yafan Wang (77th) and Zhuoxuan Bai (89th).
Now, Alcaraz faces the unknown, an adversary smaller than him and whose virtues he does not have many clues about. “No, I don’t know his name, really. Since he always gives his last name, I know him as Shang…”, he jokes. “But obviously I’m going to watch his games on video to see how he plays. In the end I followed his results, yes; In Hong Kong, for example, he made Rublev go to the third set in the semifinals. I have been following him for a while and I know that little by little he has been improving, and that he has the level to be in the situation he is in. So we will have to be focused,” he warns.
So far, Alcaraz has resolved in his favor 24 of the 30 matches against left-handers and the last one who beat him was the British Cameron Norrie, last year in the final in Rio de Janeiro. the Dane Also until now, Holger Rune had been the youngest rival he had faced in his brief career on the ATP circuit. The Nordic was born six days before him, also in 2003, but in Melbourne he has already headed for the exit door; He gave way to the Frenchman Arthur Cazaux, invited by the organization. Therefore, it is forbidden to let your guard down in the slightest.
‘ALVARITO’, EXAMPLE AND… ‘SPARRING’
A. C. | Melbourne
What started out as something specific has ended up becoming a constant. Álvaro, the oldest of the four Alcaraz Garfia brothers, is already a regular member of Carlitos’ team, who appreciates his presence and usually assigns him the role of sparring partner; that is, the rival with whom to rally in training.
“At the beginning, well… Mythical of brothers, right? We always fought and had our quarrels, but over the years our relationship has improved a lot,” said the number two on Thursday, after beating the Italian Sonego.
Like him (20), Álvaro (24) also picked up the racket from a very early age and went on to participate in several national championships with the Murcia Tennis Club. Skilled and strong, today practically inseparable from Alcaraz, she is his squire and confidant.
“I have it there with me, right? As a model as a brother and also as, well, sparring…”, laughs the tennis player; “It is a real pleasure to be able to share all these kinds of things with him. He helps me a lot both off and on the court. Having that family side to the tournaments I go to is essential so that he can show my best level.”
In addition to Alvarito, as he affectionately calls him, Alcaraz has two other younger brothers, Sergio (14) and Jaime (12). The latter also points out very good manners with tennis.
to continue reading
_