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US Open: Alcaraz’s ‘learning’ for the assault on New York: “Let him worry about his tennis and being the person he has been to get here”

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The coach of the number four in the world analyzes his progress on the eve of his debut against Bez.

Carlos Alcaraz, training at Flushing Meadows.JULIAN FINNEYAFP
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Little matter the latest results, which do not correspond to those obtained in the first part of the season: Carlos Alcaraz appears as one of the main favorites to win the United States Open, both for the specialists and for an audience that has not forgotten his formidable role a year ago, in which he was his true letter of introduction among the best.

Then the Spaniard walked to the quarterfinals, after knocking down Stefanos Tsitsipas, third seed, in the second round. He retired due to injury when he lost to Happy Auger-Also, but, even with little more than 18 years, he left the certainty that it was not a passing phenomenon. He had come to stay, as he has confirmed in this 2022 seeded with successes.

We have high expectations. He wants to enjoy himself and make people enjoy himself. And go as far as possible, his coach tells this newspaper in a telephone conversation from New York, John Charles Ferrero. The message has not changed, nor has a kid who knows how to digest setbacks. If anything, he now shows a somewhat more tempered speech, the adolescent effervescence reduced. After staying in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros (Zverev) and in the round of 16 at Wimbledon (Sinner), he prefers to talk about breaking his barrier in a Grand Slam tournament.

the last stumbles

To the losses in final paths on clay, Hamburg (Musetti) and Umag (Sinner) followed suit in their first match at the Montreal Masters 1000, after having match point against Tommy Pauland the elimination in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters 1000 against Cameron Norrie, a rival he had beaten in his three previous matches, the first of them precisely in the first round of the US Open last year. It has not been as fantastic as we would have liked, but the truth is that both players gave a good level, says Ferrero.

It can be inferred, according to what has been happening, that in some way they have taken the registration. Sinner has two wins against him after falling last fall at the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. The players are getting to know him better and they are sure to look for alternatives to play against him, but in the same way he also takes note of how to play them, comments his coach.

Winner of the Masters 1000 in Miami and Madrid and the ATP500 in Barcelona and Rio, in addition to the title won in Umag last year, Alcaraz already knows what it means to win Djokovic Already Nadal, whom he left behind on his way to victory at the Mutua Madrid Open. All this has catapulted him to number four in the world and, due to Alexander Zverev’s absence due to injury, he will start as the third seed at the US Open. To achieve what he has achieved has an extraordinary value. It is difficult to achieve a good result every day. The important thing is that it continues to grow. There is too much pressure for him, adds Ferrero.

take on the pressure

That extra responsibility to which he had felt alien weighed on him, according to his own confession, in the match against Tommy Paul. It’s a new feeling to be up there. Everyone who has passed by has felt it. I talk to him and tell him to worry about his tennis and being the person he has been to get where he has gotten.

Defending the essence, fully recovering the hedonistic nature of his tennis, has been a priority since the debut this Tuesday (6:00 p.m., Eurosport) against Sebastian Bez, 37, whom he overcame late last season en route to the title at the Next Generation ATP Finals. The 21-year-old from Buenos Aires won his first title in the spring in Estoril. Carlos is doing well. I have a lot of confidence in him and in his game. He is adjusting to the new situation, when all the spotlights are on him. If everything doesn’t go fantastic, people start talking, but that’s about it, an adaptation process, concludes Ferrero.

There are five players who can leave New York as number 1: DanielMedvedevdefender of the title and who now wears it; Rafael Nadalfour-time champion of the tournament; Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud and Alcaraz himself. If he succeeds, the Murcian will be the youngest to reach the top of the ATP since the creation of the ranking, in 1973. For this, he would need to win the tournament, having previously beaten Nadal in a hypothetical semifinal.

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