The Spaniard, who left Bercy crying months ago, ends up applauded at Roland Garros. “It’s been fantastic”
Carlos Alcaraz, in Paris, crying with his face hidden behind a towel under the boos of the public. Carlos Alcaraz, in Paris, throwing kisses and more kisses to a crowd that applauds him, that adores him. Between both scenes, only seven months. Between both scenes, just over 10 kilometers, those that separate Bercy from Roland Garros. If the Spaniard’s last visit to the French capital was a nightmare, that Masters 1000 in which he broke against the local Hugo Gastonthis time he leaves the city as a hero, a reference, an idol.
Despite losing to Alexander Zverev, the fans present at the Philippe-Chatrier declared eternal love for Alcaraz, who will most likely return to the venue on multiple occasions. His combativeness in the third set, when everything seemed lost, and above all the courage shown in the fourth set made the French public lean towards the Spanish ahead of the German. It remains to be seen what would have happened if there had been a French player opposite on the court, as happened in Paris-Bercy, but…
«The public has been fantastic, I have felt very loved, I cannot ask for more. They pushed me to the last ball and I must thank them for that”, Alcaraz commented on the support received from the stands, in a tone very different from the one used seven months ago, when he even had to make a statement on social networks. “It is never easy to play with the public against it, I knew that it was going to be difficult to deal with the environment that was there, but I never imagined that it could be so heavy, “he declared then and in the preview of Roland Garros he assured that it was difficult for him to forget what happened. Now, it seems, it is already forgotten.
«Since the first game I felt a lot of affection from the people here, these days I have felt at home. With what I have experienced I cannot leave sad, “added the number six in the world, who also had time to analyze the match, the reasons for the defeat, the keys to his almost comeback.
The learning of defeat
“I have to learn from what has happened to me. In a game like this, in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, you can’t go wrong and I went wrong. Afterwards I improved, but I have already been towed and I have not been able to turn it around. If I had reached the fifth set I don’t know what would have happened, really. Now I have to stay with the positive things of this Grand Slam and learn from my mistakes to continue growing », recognized Alcaraz, whose defeat, at 19 years old, does not put a brake on his evolution. This week, as he did at the 2021 US Open, he revisited the Roland Garros quarterfinals and confirmed himself among the best rackets on clay. His clay tour, in fact, with the title in the Masters 1000 in Madrid and in the ATP 500 Conde de Godó in Barcelona, was excellent and took him to the skies of the world ranking. «I am happy because I have been able to live the experience to the full, because I already know what it is like to play a match of this level for three, four or five hours. At the US Open I was injured and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth, ”Alcaraz concluded at a press conference.
Next week, except for one surprise – let them be champions Andrey Rublev o Casper Ruud-, will remain in sixth place on the ATP list and from there he will be able to face his apprenticeship on grass, where he still has yet to prove himself, and especially the American cement tour, where he has a lot to say. What is evident after his tournament is that he is already a planetary reference, one of the most important rackets on the circuit. What is evident after his tournament is that he has already made his peace with the Parisian public that only seven months ago, that just 10 kilometers, made him cry so much.
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