Javier Sanchez

Updated Monday, March 18, 2024-00:07

If there was a bad streak, even a crisis, it no longer exists, far from it.

The hesitations of the Australian Open disappeared, as did the slackness of the South American clay court tour.

Carlos Alcaraz

has already returned to the path of success.

As he did last year, this Sunday he lifted the trophy at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and repositioned himself to celebrate another - or others - Grand Slam this year, perhaps even returning to number one.

After consecutively beating

Alexander Zverev

,

Jannik Sinner

and

Daniil Medvedev

, that is, the third, fourth and fifth of the three in the world ranking, he has regained his status as a contender for the belt held by

Novak Djokovic

.

He will already be seen in the immediate Masters 1000 in Miami and more in the upcoming European clay tour, but Alcaraz, at 20 years old, seems like he will soon reach the best version of him, even one still unknown.

This Sunday, in the final of the California tournament against Medvedev that ended with a 7-6(5) and a 6-1, he did not even need to sublimate his tennis to win;

just be him.

Absent in Melbourne, the presence of his coach,

Juan Carlos Ferrero

, was essential for Alcaraz to find calm, patience, and relaxation.

"And what do I do? Do I only pass balls?" the tennis player even said to his coach when he demanded rallies.

The answer, strange as it may seem, was yes: he had to pass balls.

As he did in the semifinals of the last US Open, Medvedev proposed a new strategy to Alcaraz, a surprising game plan.

Unlike then, the Russian placed himself on the court, proposed a direct match, with right hands, one on one, and the Spaniard entered the cape.

With his nerves on edge and the wind as his enemy, Alcaraz began the final by missing practically all of his blows.

One unforced error, then another, then another.

There were 17 in the first set -26 in total-, but the majority, 13 of them in the first five games.

Until he calmed down.

Thanks to a change of sides, to start playing next to his box, Alcaraz understood that he could not win in half an hour, that he had to lengthen the exchanges and his tennis improved.

A strange point was catharsis.

In the middle of the jump for a shot he stumbled, but he had time to recover, run back, save the ball and later finish with a winning passing.