The clatter of keyboards sounds, fingers smoking, at full speed. And there appears Vincenzo Martucci, a veteran journalist – formerly in The Gazzettanow in Il Messagero— who turns to the Spanish reporters and laments the misfortune of his tennis players, who were going to take on the world at this Roland Garros and finally left empty-handed: neither Jannik Sinner, nor Jasmine Paolini — logical, on the other hand, considering who he was facing—not even the latter in the doubles modality. He waters three times, so the writer congratulates and summarizes the past, present and, if nothing strange happens, of his colleagues: “Before Rafa, now Carlos. “You Spaniards are condemned to work forever.”
After the scene, already at night, Carlos Alcaraz bursts in with a gigantic smile, chatting via videoconference on his mobile phone and leading a delegation of 15 excited people before his arrival at the conference room, where the attendees recognize him and applaud him. There are the data, which indicate, for example, that his success rate in the big ones amounts to 82.1%; that is, above that of figures such as John McEnroe (81.46%), Andre Agassi (80.86%) or Andy Murray (78.13%). So he enjoys Carlitos, in black and shorts; Looking forward to going to celebrate with your loved ones. Next to him, the trophy that he wanted so much and that he already has.
What lesson do you draw from this successful time in Paris? “That mental strength wins games. That you don’t have to play brilliantly, your best tennis or be in your best version to win,” he introduces; “In the end you also gain a lot of headspace; If you are mentally weak, you can lose even if you play the best tennis of your life. You can advance rounds, but when the time comes, if you are not strong in the head, you will not make it. In the fifth set of the final, it was time to leave everything, fighting until I couldn’t take it anymore. “It’s what a warrior does, and I consider myself a warrior.”
The man from Murcia, who intends to return to Murcia as soon as possible to relax for a few days and catch his breath for what lies ahead, the green season that also led him to glory last year, will maintain the tradition. So soon he will have a new tattoo. First, the date of his explosion in New York (2022) was engraved on his triceps, then a strawberry on one ankle for Wimbledon and now, he anticipates, he will have the Eiffel Tower on the other. “I have already told him [a su madre] I’m only going to do it for the first title of each Grand Slam. I have to find time, but I’ll get another insurance,” he says, already reunited with the Spanish platoon that managed to climb to the top of Roland Garros. From Santana to Nadal, from Arantxa to Muguruza. And now he, Carlitos.
“It is an honor to be in the history of our sport. Put my name there, that of a kid from El Palmar, Murcia, who is achieving historical records. It is something wonderful. Something that we are going to enjoy and I hope they don’t take it away from me soon”, anticipating that he will return here in July with more hunger: “It could be my first Olympic Games, after having won my first Roland Garros. “It’s going to be a very special tournament for me and I’m really looking forward to it.”
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