Alcaraz and the generation without fear | The weekly country

Tennis lives on polarization: either you suffer with a player or you empathize with your rival. You contemplate each point wrapped in the passion of yours ball surpassing the rival. And if, in addition, that player speaks your language, he is from your country, and tells your same jokes (“how are the machines?”), complicity becomes symbiosis. We have all transmuted ourselves into Rafa Nadal at some point. And now we’re starting to become…

Tennis lives on polarization: either you suffer with a player or you empathize with your rival. You contemplate each point wrapped in the passion of yours ball surpassing the rival. And if, in addition, that player speaks your language, he is from your country, and tells your same jokes (“how are the machines?”), complicity becomes symbiosis. We have all transmuted ourselves into Rafa Nadal at some point. And now we are starting to become Carlos Alcaraz.

That a country like Spain is linking two players with this tremendous potential is something unique, unusual, extraordinary. It is as if Maradona had coincided in his last games with a young Messi. To put that in perspective, the United States, with all its potential, has gone 20 years (since Roddick at the 2003 US Open) without one of their own winning a men’s Grand Slam. Can anyone think of a better script for this next Roland Garros (Nadal territory, 14 victories since 2005)?

Carlos Alcaraz is a phenomenon. Do not doubt it. “A player like that only comes around every 10 years,” John McEnroe says of him. He is the youngest number one in history, an objective fact, but his display of virtues on the track is brutal: dynamic, creative, athletic, explosive, skilful with his hands, quick with his feet, powerful when he has to be, subtle when he wants, intelligent in tactics and with character. And what’s more, he smiles, has fun and connects with young and old. In an exchange he can choose five different solutions (long return, crossed ball, parallel, drop shot and volley), and that drives rivals raised in a crushing tennis game where they seek to open holes by working the spaces with always equal balls. He breaks their heads.

His coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, is right when he says that Alcaraz is not favored by being compared to Nadal. Carlos is unique, and is more like a compendium of Big Three: He has the extraordinary creativity of Federer, the backhand and movement of Djokovic, and the pride and confidence of Nadal (although only time will tell if he has a similar mentality). He has more potential than the 20-year-old version of each of them.

His joy and cheekiness in the game have not yet passed the test of continued demand. There, the work of his environment (with Ferrero at the helm, winner at Roland Garros in 2003 and also number 1 in his day; his father, Carlos, and his family, who know very well what this sport demands) will have a very important role. Being number one makes you the target for everyone else to beat. And they are many, and talented. The exhaustion of aspiring to reach the final every week is brutal. You have to know how to manage your own forces (and also the calendar).

That is the immediate challenge you face. Win matches without the need to always serve at 220 kilometers / hour. Preserve strength, knowing superior, to dispose of them when the dying matches arrive. And watch out for the only weak point he has shown so far: too many injuries to such a young player. A number one has to take care of the body with rest and good nutrition (Carlos has already recognized that he did not do well after the US Open) and avoid always playing on the crest of the explosive wave. Have fun whenever you can, but clench your fists when the crooked or routine days arrive.

The Big Three is gradually becoming extinct and leaving a huge mark on the history of the sport. Now comes Alcaraz and the Fearless Generation. The shadow of the giants is no longer so powerful. The Italian Jannik Sinner, the Danish Holger Rune, the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, and some others who are hiding out there, will give us hours and hours of electrifying, passionate and joyful spectacle. Tennis catches fresh air for many years. Fasten your seatbelts, we’re going to have a great time.