For
Carlos Alcaraz
entertainment is not enough. He received them, grateful, upon entering the
Manolo Santana
, semi-deserted not only due to capacity restrictions but also because it was an early hour on a working Wednesday, when a group of fans chanted "Happy Birthday" to him, as this Wednesday he entered adulthood. But he did not make a gesture of complacency at the time of signing his first game, on the verge of taking a
donut
, already back, recovered from a puncture in the sternum area that forced him to request physical attention with 2-0 and 30 -15 down, after a long and intense rally. Nadal defeated him by a double 6-1, in one hour and 17 minutes, and will be measured this Thursday with
Jannik Sinner
o
Alexei Popyrin
for a place in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Even with the facade of a kid, without the athletic exuberance of his opponent, the Murcian, overwhelming in his debut in the tournament, 6-4, 6-0 to
Adrian Mannarino
, faced forces for the first time with one of the best tennis players in forever.
It was not just a duel between Spaniards in Madrid, an intergenerational combat between the vigorous present of our tennis and the hopeful relief, but the challenge incorporated the illustrious stripes monopolized by Nadal for more than three decades.
Accumulated merits
Because when Alcaraz, who has
Juan Carlos Ferrero
, another of the greats of our tennis,
in his corner
, was yet to be born, his adversary was already showing his fang with victories against
Carlos Moyà
, today his coach, in Hamburg, and
Albert Costa
, in Monte Carlo. Two recent Roland Garros champions fell victim to the intrepid character of the 16-year-old in 2003, who even then did not seem to be afraid of anything. Alcaraz also goes bare-chested, as he demonstrated when creating a break ball just started the game, but little by little it was seen that he still has left to raise so strong and commit a five-time champion of the tournament, recent winner for the twelfth time of the Count of Godó and aspiring to surpass the 20 great of
Roger Federer
with his fourteenth Roland Garros.
After making his debut in the final draw of the Australian Open, having already on his resume with victories such as the one achieved against
David Goffin
in Brazil, the semifinals of the recent ATP 250 in Marbella, even surpassing the precocity of Nadal himself at the time of winning a match in the tournament in question, of making more than enough merits to deserve one of the invitations of the organization, Alcaraz verified that his ball still does not run at the required speed against the best player ever on this surface, which is missing modify the heights, work the points with the specific skills of the brick dust.
Nadal offered him a master lesson, which he will surely have internalized.
He is not lacking in manners or ambition.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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