Perhaps melancholic, Rafael Nadal shares images from Manacor.
He shows himself training on the indoor track of his academy, squeezing himself, because the clay season is making its way and this time, the never seen, the Balearic is not there yet.
Injured in a rib, Nadal had not been able to appear in Montecarlo, last week, and he is not doing so these days at the RCTB.
Nadal longs for these spring days in Barcelona.
He is also longed for by the 7,000 spectators who pack the track that bears his name: perhaps seeking consolation, the congregation scans the horizon, hides in their trench coats and contemplates Carlos Alcaraz (18), the new Rafael Nadal, whether he likes it or not. nickname, because his management of the scene has certain parallels.
The expectation it generates is unanimous. How many kids are waiting for you at the gates of the enclosure?
Carlos Alcaraz is the new phenomenon.
If, for example, Stéfanos Tsitsipas is asked, the Greek answers:
–Alcaraz? I still have to find a way to get over him.
(In the face to face between the two, they are 2-0 for the Murcian).
And if you ask Pablo Carreño, who three hours before knocked down Bernabé Zapata (double 6-3), the man says:
–I met Alcaraz at the O2 Arena in London. He was fourteen years old and I was already Top 10. In those days I had lost to Thiem and Albert Molina, his agent, told me: 'Why don't you have a ball with Alcaraz?' So we both went out to center court and started hitting it. I assure you: that enclosure was imposing, it frightened anyone. At his age, I wouldn't even have been able to hold the racket. And yet, as soon as we started hitting him, he missed less than I did. I don't know if he was ready to face Thiem yet. But almost... That's Alcaraz. And I think he can reach the maximum, he will be the one who puts the ceiling on him.
–I remember very well that training in the Nitto Finals. I think it's one of the best warm-ups I've had in my life, says Alcaraz.
That kid Alcaraz wasn't scared at the 02 Arena, and neither is he these days at the RCTB, when Nadal isn't there and all eyes turn to the Murcian and put pressure on their backs, or when the game gets complicated, Well Soonwoo Kwon, Korean, is not scared either.
The party is a box of surprises.
It starts like the water that minutes before rushed over the earth. It's liquid and windy, absolutely on the side of Alcaraz (18), which torments Kwon (24 years old, today the 72nd racket in the world).
The teenager shows off, shows off muscle and efficiency: Kwon doesn't understand anything, he doesn't enter the game, he's a fan who runs without rhyme or reason. Alcaraz lures him into the net and then beats him with a passing-shot. The games fall on the side of Murcia, one after another, many of them blank, and in a flash, just 26 minutes, he appropriates the first set.
"Ready, this is it," is commented in the stands.
But not.
Suddenly, it is Alcaraz who is tormented.
Lower the piston, give up the service, lose concentration and his technician, Juan Carlos Ferrero, bites his lip.
-Go Go go.
It's strange, Alcaraz is gone.
-It's a tennis match and anything can happen. I had started well and the rival did not see a goal. But then he let go, doubts came to me and he got on. He has cost me to return.
Kwon sees the hole, accelerates and sneaks into the match. Now it is he who handles the keys and Alcaraz who escapes.
When the rally gets longer, the Murcian sends a long ball. He has lost faith, he needs a break, he gives up his sleeve and rearms for the third chapter.
Calm down, the storm fades, Alcaraz finds himself again and regains control.
He flies over the place, tempers his nerves, talks to himself, hits himself on the temple with the towel, corrects himself, breaks Kwon's serve and practically closes the debate.
–Luckily, I managed to reset myself and things went well.
He marches roughly (Jaume Munar, Nikoloz Basilashvili's executioner, is waiting for him), and soon the rain falls.
