Barely ten minutes into rehearsal have passed when Carlos Alcaraz talks to his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and heads to the bench to take a seat with a bad face. In turn, the technician approaches the tutor of the sparring selected for the occasion, the American Andres Martin, and conveys: “Sorry, we have to stop”. We have to stop. Immediately afterwards, the tennis player and his entourage – physio, physical trainer, doctor, agent and his brother Álvaro – head to the locker room and what should have been an hour and a half of training is reduced to a sigh because the 21-year-old from Murcia does not he ends up feeling well. The day before, after losing to Casper Ruud in his debut in the Masters Cup, he confirmed that he has a bad cold that conditions him for the second and decisive match this Wednesday, against the Russian Andrey Rublev, in which he will not another result is worth winning.
“As soon as he starts to move a little, it is difficult for him, especially when breathing because his chest is a little tight. “A bad time to have gotten sick…” Ferrero comments to a small group of special envoys, who lowers the alarm despite the scene. “Colds have some days of rising and others of falling, and I think there is no danger [el partido contra Rublev]”, reassures the coach, one of those players who, according to a source close to him, used to force every time he had a physical setback; Alcaraz, on the other hand, is one of those others who needs everything to be more or less ready, to compete with more guarantees from that point of view. In any case, continue learning and internalizing that the elite requires living with continuous wear and tear.
“We have all played under circumstances in which we were not feeling well, as I suppose Carlos will do tomorrow. [14.00, Movistar+] and that many other people have done it. But I don’t think it’s going to go so far as to not get on the court,” says Ferrero, aware that the situation has been complicated by his player’s problems and the fact that the hours go by and he still doesn’t feel comfortable in the tournament. Alcaraz has been taking antibiotics for three days and trying to combat congestion with expectorants and a balsamic ointment that he spreads on his chest to free his airways.
“It will be difficult for him to be one hundred percent tomorrow. Rublev is a player who moves you a lot and you have to be very good on your legs, and right now that is what is costing him the most, recovering between points. He also lost [ante Alexander Zverev] and he has the need to win, so he will go out with a knife, knowing that Carlos is not one hundred percent physically… It is an unknown. Let’s see how his body recovers today and if he feels better tomorrow, try to give everything he has inside,” the Valencian continues; “Now what we have to do is try to recover on a physical level. He knows that he has it more difficult than the previous year, because last year he won a set, but you have to play… Imagine that he wins 6-1 and 6-1 against Rublev and 6-0 and 6-1 against Zverev. Everything is fixed! Let’s give it time.”
