I sped off at the Southfields subway exit.
Juan Carlos Ferrero called us in the first hour at Wimbledon, to talk about his disciple, Carlos Alcaraz, and his final today against Novak Djokovic, and that's why I'm so excited.
I sped up and tripped up the stairs, and when I fell I caught the foot of the Japanese woman who was two steps ahead (I suspect the woman has gone to see Tokito Oda, a great Paralympic tennis player who is competing in the doubles final and semi-final individual).
We both fall, the Japanese woman and I, and she looks at me in surprise and her companion, busy:
– What the fuck?
And I apologize and curse myself, "I can't be more stupid".
And then I check that everything is fine, especially the Japanese woman's foot and knee, thank God.
And then I hurry away, to enter the two-mile course that separates Southfields from Wimbledon, and this time I go on without contemplating the spectacle of the terraced houses or the sweet green meadows, I go on cursing my stupidity ( and laughing, partly, this too: nothing has happened here), I go just in time.
(...)
Juan Carlos Ferrero (43) brings the pause of someone who has seen the world and has been here before.
His record as a tennis player includes a Roland Garros title (2003) and his weeks as number one, that same year.
And as a coach, he has long sponsored Carlos Alcaraz, number one as he had been, and also winner of a Grand Slam (the 2022 US Open), to see what destiny offers him today.
Relaxed, Ferrero sits in room 5 of the Media Theater and contemplates the Spanish reporters, there are nine of us.
Recorders in front of the technician.
– You were number one and played in the Grand Slam finals. Does he use his experience to help Alcaraz?
– I convey to him situations that may happen to him on the track. How to play against the opponent and manage the pressure, what to do the day before to be calmer. But Alcaraz is a trained tennis player.
For yesterday, the team had planned a quiet day: gym and isolation from the outside.
With the mobile phone far away and switched off.
- Well, that's what we're trying to do, for Alcaraz to put down his cell phone. I don't know if we will succeed, but I have recommended it. He can't walk around all the time looking at what they're saying, that if this guy is good and he's good too, that if he wins the first set this or that will happen... That doesn't help.
-Djokovic often says that facing Nadal at Roland Garros is the biggest sporting challenge in the world. Is facing Djokovic at Wimbledon also the greatest sporting challenge in the world?
-If we make the giant bigger, it will be impossible to beat him. Let's forget the statistics. Djokovic has two arms and two legs. We don't think about history or the other.
(Djokovic is chasing his 8th London title, as many as Federer, and his 24th Grand Slam title, as many as Margaret Court).
- And what will be the formula to defeat the Serb?
-The formula is between us, I won't say it now because that would strengthen Djokovic more. But Alcaraz has already won it once, let's not forget (in last year's Mútua Madrid Open; they go head-to-head).
We insist, and Ferrero stretches out.
He says that both Djokovic and Alcaraz are good players from the bottom of the court, although he adds that the Murcian is looking a little more for the net and the dynamism of the point, and that the insistence on dynamism could throw off the rhythm of the serbian
– And what have they learned from what happened at Roland Garros?
(In his semi-final against Djokovic, Alcaraz had suffered from cramps).
– When you face someone again, you learn to manage time. The favoritism is for Djokovic, and this suits Alcaraz, it allows him to be more calm. The most important thing is that he plays fluidly like he has all tournament, except against Rune, when he came out a little more tense.
– And how do they achieve this?
– Focusing on you, on the problems you can create for others, on how to limit your weak points. Carlos' options will depend on Carlos' level.
