The pressure of knowing that everyone considers him the chosen one to take Rafael Nadal’s throne does not seem to sink an Alcaraz who admitted that he never loses “hope” after lifting a match that seemed lost. Nadal continues to lead the world rankings, but if Alcaraz wins the tournament he will become the first Spanish player to overtake the Mallorcan in the ATP rankings in 17 years, when Nadal was behind Carlos Moyá, currently the Manacorí’s coach. The young man from Murcia overcame the Italian who just turned 21 this August, Jannick Sinner, in a beautiful five-set battle (7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5 and 6-3). “We were both one step away from losing, we were both able to win. It’s a match that we will both remember for a long time, as the level of play was very high,” said Alcaraz. Sinner was right. “Carlos played incredible tennis, and this will be a match that will hurt me for a long time,” he said, thinking of the way he missed a match point in the fourth set. Sinner, the youngest player to reach the quarterfinals of all four major tournaments, has yet to make the jump to the semifinals. It’s not long. “For sure, these two guys will meet in the finals soon,” said former champion Matts Wilander. Sinner, tall as a saint, with a boyish face and a surname that betrays his roots in the German-speaking Italian region of South Tyrol, played like angels for much of the game. In the third set he raised a 4-2 against Alcaraz and reached the tie break, where he prevailed by a resounding 7-0. Alcaraz was so touched that during the fourth set he looked at his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero and told him “I don’t know where to put the first serve”. But when everything seemed decided, with Sinner serving to win the match, the Spaniard got the break i changed his face. The game was already his.
After almost 20 years in which three men, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, have dominated the circuit, the time has finally come to give way to hungry youngsters. Like when a new generation of Greek gods superseded the previous one in classical Greece and took Olympus to rule. Federer, who is over 40 years old, has not yet retired, but has been missing for months due to injuries. Djokovic, the youngest of the three, won at Wimbledon but has seen how his decision not to get vaccinated against covid-19 cut his wings when he seemed capable of overcoming a Christmas that, at 36 years old, is the man with more Grand Slams, 22. The Mallorcan, however, suffers from many injuries. His body, after so many duels, sends him a message: it’s time to say goodbye. “As long as Rafa, Djokovic and Federer are still around, they will still be the best. And their rivalry will still be the most important. Now, Sinner and I have shown that we want to be present in the final stages, that we have a long career ahead of us “, explained Alcaraz.
The Murcian, for now, has already qualified for the end-of-season Masters and will make his Grand Slam semifinal debut against the new local hero, the American Francis Tiafoe. Precisely the executioner of Christmas. Alcaraz is the favourite, although the crowd will be rooting for the surprising young son of war refugees from Sierra Leone, currently ranked 22nd in the world. The second semi-final will pit the Russian Karen Katchanov against another young man who wants to be respected, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who at the age of 23 played – and lost – the Roland Garros final. Both games in the morning from Friday to Saturday.
Everyone, however, knows that Alcaraz has a special light. In some things, like the ability to rise when all seems lost, it reminds Nadal, but has its own style. “He dominates many aspects of the game and, above all, he has the mental strength of Rafa Nadal. He is well advised, too,” says David Ayuela, who coached the Spanish junior tennis team that won the Davis Cup, in reference to former player Juan Carlos Ferrero, coach of Murcia. The extenista discovered him at his academy in a summer camp and after leaving the team of the German Alexander Zverev he opted for Alcaraz. At the age of 14, the Murcian already added points for the first time in the ATP classification. “We had to fly to Brazil and cross the country by car to play tournaments, and sleep wherever we could. It took a long time to get to where we are now, but Carlitos he’s special,” Ferrero told the SER channel, recalling the early years when they slept in roadside guesthouses and played on empty courts. Now, everyone wants to see him in action in New York, where he has become the youngest player in reaching a Grand Slam semifinal since Rafa Nadal in 2005.
