In a small group, Carlos Alcaraz is betrayed by the subconscious and the shift in speech: saying without saying. Gone is the audacity of other times and in the same place. The bravado typical of the twenty-something. “What would you say to Rod Laver? “My name is a miracle!” answered the man from Murcia just a year ago, when he was told that the legendary Australian player (The Rocket) considered Novak Djokovic the arch-favorite for the title, unless there was some divine intervention along the way. The tennis player expressed himself before the duel in the quarterfinals against Alexander Zverev, finally the executioner, at exactly the same stage of the tournament. Now (7-5, 6-1 and withdrawal of Jack Draper) the one he sees is Nole, who at 37 years old continues to be as intimidating as ever. That last name and that silhouette make anyone shiver.
“Well, I’m not going to say that I particularly want to face him in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam…,” admits the one from El Palmar. “I’m not going to lie, I’m not saying that I’m afraid, far from it, but well, in the end it’s not that I don’t have a special desire for it, but I simply like having the big battles, playing against the best… I always I have said that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best or the best, and it feels better if you go through rounds or win a tournament when you have beaten the best. So we are prepared, we are eager,” Alcaraz continues, again in a good tone before Draper’s body has stopped the Englishman, diminished since the final stretch of the first set.
The Murcian speaks of a wish, but this time from the utmost caution. After all, Djokovic is Djokovic, the champion of 24 majors, the man of all records, the same one who half a year ago inflicted on him, probably, the toughest defeat of his career so far. It happened in Paris, on sand. Little or nothing to do with Melbourne, different setting, different conditions and another circumstance. However, that episode that made him shed tears and that penetrated his spirit like few others still stings him. “I was crying because I thought I had disappointed many people and that I had not been at the level they expected,” he responded then, despite having played a magnificent match against a rival who counterattacked with his greatest version to win the Olympic gold.
People who witnessed the episode say that it hit the tennis player extremely hard and that the damage was reflected in his subsequent performance during the summer. After falling in that double tiebreaker in Paris (7-6(3) and 7-6(2)) came the chapter of fury and rackets after giving in at the first opportunity in Cincinnati, against the Frenchman Gael Monfils, and the subsequent blow in the second round of the US Open, against the Dutch Botic vande Zandschulp “I don’t think so. [la derrota contra el serbio] “It affected me,” he said in New York. “But the truth is that it has been a summer with many emotions, very demanding for me,” he continued. “The situation has surpassed me,” he explained that same afternoon of August 4 at the Philippe Chatrier, where two months before he had won at Roland Garros.
It wasn’t the first time he cried. In April he had already been moved with rage, having to discard several dates on the clay tour, but in no case did he reach such a level of disappointment. Subsequently, Alcaraz (21 years old) has been conveying that the experience is over and that the bad experience is behind him, but the truth is that since then the suspicion and reverential respect that he already had for Djokovic (6-3, 6-4 and 7-6(4) to Jiri Lehecka) have multiplied. Under no circumstances do you trust him. After having beaten the Belgrade player in two Wimbledon finals, that afternoon he realized the true dimension of a competitor who is now once again threatening his aspirations and who will burst into the center with all his mystique and his gifts to make another splash and vindicate.
“The last two games have been at a high level,” says Djokovic. “I have competed against two players [Leheck y antes Tomas Machac] They are in great shape. Lehecka won a tournament the first week of the season and has been feeling the ball great. It was a great test for me before Alcaraz, but, of course, I was not thinking about Carlos before winning the match, in which I did not see myself as a clear favorite either. What I have achieved so far encourages me to believe that I can win against any opponent if I have a good day, when I feel at my best. That’s what I try to focus on, my game and my recovery, staying ready for anything that may await me on the court,” adds Nole, with ten Australian titles in his collection.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz’s tournament is expressed in a pimple, which has grown and grown on the left profile of his nose since he landed in Melbourne. It is a palpitating reality. It remains to be seen in what direction the explosion will be this time: in his favor, or in Djokovic’s. The Balkan has the opportunity to give another coup de effect and from the outside one can guess an exponential growth of his game in Tuesday’s event, taking into account that he usually uncovers his million resources when the script demands it most. Alcaraz is, therefore, on alert, distrustful and already scrutinizing how he can approach the pulse. Traditionally he has opted for the attack, but in Paris he found a response in the greatness of an adversary who has infinite solutions. Remedies for everything within one track.
