The haunted French roof, a challenge for Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz has these things, whose pulse does not usually tremble too much no matter how much he is navigating through troubled waters and there is the threat of slipping. Hence, when Nicolás Jarry pressures him, cuts his rent and threatens to give him a scare in the first set, he weathers the storm by juggling and having fun with the racket, like someone who doesn’t care. Like someone who simply plays, in the most playful sense of the word. Nothing could be further from the truth. Distension, the best remedy for Murcia. “Come on, Charly, come on!”, his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, urges him from the side, proactive and aware that his boy is moving on terrain conducive to displeasure or misfortune. There remains the memory of the tempestuous evening against the local Hugo Gaston three years ago, those whistles from the stands when he was not even a twenty-something, or the abdominal mishap two years ago or the collapse last year against the Russian Roman Safiullin. Bad taste at every step. The latter, he says, trusts that it will be different and, for now, he starts well: 7-5 and 6-1 (in 1h 30m) against the Chilean, melted in the second set.

Bercy is not at all simple, nor is the format indoor. None of the 16 titles he has won to date has been covered. Alcaraz has resources and ways to perform in all circumstances, but at the moment, he is reluctant to play indoors and in this final stretch of the season. “Last year, coming into the last tournament, I was probably tired, I didn’t play the way I wanted to. But this time I feel different. I know what I have to do. I’ve been working very well lately. “I am prepared to achieve a good result here, or at least go further than a year ago, which is not very difficult…” he points out, at the same time that he claims to have understood the importance of setting specific objectives before the end of the year. For example, taking revenge on this bloody Paris-Bercy mat, where the ball flies like in few places, and also unseating the German Alexander Zverev as second in the ranking.

A winner on hard, dirt and cement, the one from El Palmar has so far been resisted by enclaves such as Beijing, Shanghai, Basel, Astana, Vienna or Bercy, with the only positive reminiscence of the Next Gen ATP Finals of 2021. A contender then (still as a promise) to make his way among the strongest, the challenge now arises of overcoming the difficulty of a complex framework in which Rafael Nadal did not even triumph. Yes, David Ferrer, the Spanish exception, did it, and the Serbian Novak Djokovic will not be able to do it again, absent this time by his own decision after having won three of the last five editions. Number one, Jannik Sinner, disappears from the scene at the last minute, suffering from a virus. “My body is not prepared,” laments the Italian. And the focus, then, definitively points to Alcaraz, who will clash on Thursday with Ugo Humbert or Marcos Giron – to decide the obstacle – after resolving Jarry’s initial challenge with aplomb. Solidity and service when appropriate.

With an effectiveness of 59.1% indoors, considerably lower than that registered in the rest of the formats, it is confident of acquiring good dynamics for the Masters Cup (between 10 and 17) and the Cup Finals Davis (19-24); in, why not, finally getting rid of the bad taste in his mouth and landing with a message under his arm in Turin, where he will deal with the other seven masters. At the moment, Sinner, he, Zverev, Daniil Medvedev have a place and it was guaranteed this Tuesday by Taylor Fritz; There are, therefore, three vacancies in the air with Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Grigor Dimitrov as the main candidates, since Djokovic may be left out or decline to participate, and that Andrey Rublev and Tommy Paul gave up in the debut against Francisco Cerúndolo (double 7-6) and Adrian Mannarino (6-2 and 7-5) respectively.

“I haven’t won here for two years, so every time I advance in this tournament it’s a gift for me. “I’m feeling good,” said the Spaniard, whose average on clay is 81.8%, on grass 88.9% and on hard (uncovered) 76%. “I think that now I am much more motivated, I have accepted that the season is long and that we have to play until the end. It was essential to assume that you have to fight until the end and I think I have arrived with more physical and mental energy than last year,” he continued in the conference room. “It is very noticeable that the ball slips as soon as it bounces. There is no choice but to get used to it, but I think it is difficult for viewers because it is difficult to see long exchanges. There are players who like this speed, but I thinkIf the track were a little slower it would be more entertainingfor the people. In the end, every week there are different conditions, different courts and balls, so you have to get used to it,” Alcaraz concluded.