Carlos the First - Newspaper Kommersant No. 168 (7369) of 09/13/2022

Carlos the First - Newspaper Kommersant No. 168 (7369) of 09/13/2022



The final of the US Open, which ended in New York, was marked by the historic triumph of Carlos Alcaraz. Having beaten the Norwegian Kasper Ruud in the decisive match in four games, the Spanish teenager won his first Grand Slam title and became the youngest leader in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rating in its almost half-century history, replacing the Russian Daniil Medvedev on the top line. It took the 19-year-old Alcaraz 23 hours and 40 minutes to win seven matches, more than any other major champion.

The elite list of 28 tennis players, who at different times became the first rackets of the world, consists of outstanding masters of all possible playing styles and personalities of different scales. Long-term leaders and heroes of the episode coexist there, serving aces and back-line specialists, the brightest charismatics and incorrigible bores, athletic gentlemen and bad guys. There are also “young and early” among them - for example, the Australian Lleyton Hewitt and the Russian Marat Safin, who at the turn of the last and this century climbed to the top of the rating at the age of 20. However, even they did not succeed in what the supernatural Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz has now managed to do - to be ahead of the rest at the age of 19 years and four months, that is, almost at a junior age, in which, for example, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were still beyond the second ten, and the ultimate dream of Daniil Medvedev was a breakthrough in the third hundred.

Remembering Federer, one thing cannot be ignored: in today's context, it looks highly symbolic. Alcaraz was born in 2003, when the Swiss, the oldest of the titans who have dominated tennis for almost two decades, opened his list of Grand Slam victories at Wimbledon. By the way, Rafael Nadal played his first match in the ATP tournaments in the same season, and Djokovic made his debut at the professional level. This is how the twisted story turns out.

Another remarkable fact from the past gives rise to expressive parallels between the biographies of the new tennis king and the man who played a huge role in his life.

The fact is that the Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been training Alcaraz for more than three years, also topped the world rankings in 2003, the day after the end of the US Open, where he reached the final. Moreover, over the next 18 years, the leader of the ATP classification, precisely following the results of the American Major, has not changed even once. Just an amazing coincidence!

The first half of this rainy New York Sunday Alcaraz spent on a special secret routine. Although the start of the final against Kasper Ruud was only scheduled for 16:00, he left the hotel early in the morning and already had breakfast at the stadium at 9:45. According to Eurosport commentator, former world number two Spaniard Alex Corretja, there were serious reasons. Ferrero believed that his ward did not need even minimal extra contacts with the outside world, which could not be avoided at breakfast in a restaurant, gathered by the whole team. In addition, Alcaraz needed to carry out not an easy one, as is usually the case on match days, but a rather serious warm-up. After all, on Saturday, returning to the hotel deep after midnight after the end of Friday's semi-final against Francis Tiafoe, his third five-setter in a row, he did not train for a minute.

About what wonderful recipes helped the future champion to endure the exhausting tournament marathon, during which he spent 23 hours and 40 minutes on the courts of the National Tennis Center in seven matches (which, by the way, is a Grand Slam championship record), nothing is known for certain. Judging by the haggard face of Alcaraz, such monstrous loads do not go unnoticed even at the age of 19, when recovery is usually faster than that of veterans. However, they practically did not affect the quality of his tennis in the final. Perhaps the first signs of Alcaraz's fatigue appeared only at the beginning of the most important third set, when Ruud managed to win back the serve and equalize the situation both in the game and in the match. But they also evaporated after the Spaniard first saved two set points in the 12th game, which lasted 11 minutes, and then tore his opponent to pieces in a tie-break, giving him only one, very first, point.

Ruud was very good at times. His tight, aggressive game on the back line, supported by successful exits to the net, like all two weeks, looked well-oiled and fundamental.

However, against the background of Alcaraz, this phenomenal creator, capable of producing real masterpieces of handling a tennis ball every five minutes, even such a worthy and skillful master looked insipid.

In the tennis of a young macho, who, of course, cannot be called an adherent of the classic Spanish defensive style, all the components are excellent - both a reliable, moderately powerful serve, and a variety of twists, alternating with completely flat shots, after which the ball flies at breakneck speed with little or no rotation. , and the excellent playing technique at the net, multiplied by a developed reaction, and ideal shortened blows put on stream: due to the jewelry performance, they are easier to predict than to repel. All this is implicated in sports arrogance (it is clearly in Alcaraz's blood) and composure, amazing for such early years, developed not without the participation of clever Ferrero. And also on endurance and incredible speed, allowing for several hours in a row to block all 98 square meters of their half of the court.

For 19 years old, such a huge set of trump cards is simply unique. Moreover, it is not yet entirely clear whether Alcaraz is still capable of self-improvement and whether his current universalism will turn out to be the main factor hindering further progress. And in no case should the Spaniard stop developing - unless, of course, after a triumphant victory over Ruud, won with a score of 6:4, 2:6, 7:6 (7:1), 6:3 in exactly 200 minutes, he according to numerous predictions is going to stay on top for a long time. Even if at the moment the gap between Alcaraz and his pursuers in the ranking is quite large, and he has every opportunity to become now the first in the world at the end of the year - again, the youngest in history.

Evgeny Fedyakov



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