Overwhelmed during the summer, to a certain extent fed up with so much playing, with so much expectation and with so much emotion accumulated throughout a year on the surface, Carlos Alcaraz celebrates the turn of August here, symbolized by a link: Gael Monfils. Against the Frenchman he suffered one of the bitterest days of his short career, in Cincinanti; Then he fell, struck four blows against the asphalt out of helplessness and left an ugly image that contrasts with today, arms raised, smiling and qualified for the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000. Now beaten by the Frenchman 6-4 and 7-5, in 1h 27m, the number two in the world faces today (not before 12.30, Movistar+) the Czech Tomas Machac and extends the good feelings he has been acquiring since returning to the activity, in mid-September. Once the summer clouds have been overcome, he enjoys himself again, he says.
“I feel good, I am playing at a high level, so I am confident of going far in this tournament,” he expressed after the victory against the veteran Monfils, the same one who two months ago set a trap for him and who this time entangled him again, but no luck. Alcaraz said last weekend, after winning the title in Beijing and capturing his fourth trophy of the season, that there were moments when he did not want to “touch the racket or travel,” but the story has changed. The vulgar version of those days is behind us and appetite and good manners are once again evident; without the need to offer great flashes but with great reliability, he continues to resolve and dispatch rivals with the aim of reaching the two priority events that have been marked before the end of the course: the Masters Cup in Turin (from the 10th to the 17th November) and the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga (from the 19th to the 24th).
In the transition from falling in the second round of the US Open to today’s duel against Machac, the one from El Palmar has collected 12 consecutive wins, the Beijing title and, above all, the good feelings that he had lost due to saturation. Perhaps he found inspiration in that getaway he made to the Monza circuit to unwind, or he has simply recovered it through daily work and the talks he has with the cornerstones of his team, who insist: In what historical direction? do you want to go? How far do you really want to go? To what extent are you willing to make the sacrifice that an attempted assault on the summit set by the giants would require? This is a personal choice and a test of maturity. Alcaraz will probably land wherever he wants.
Meanwhile, his game has been recovering the good color and solidity that led him, without going any further, to the successes of Roland Garros and Wimbledon; harmful from both profiles, growing with the service and correctly interpreting the timing of the parties. He did not fall for Monfils’s tricks and has worn the appropriate suit for each occasion, whether as a returner or as a patient tennis player, as a fearless player or as a serious one, always with sparks of virtuosity. Faced with rivals with very varied profiles, the Murcian has offered optimistic signs over the last two weeks, translated into the results and also into a significant rebound in discourse. He speaks again about hunger, will and ending that shadow that has followed him in the final stretch of the courses.
Stamps and golf
The key? “The freedom with which I play,” he says. “I’m not afraid of failing. I keep trying, even if I fail. Most of the time it turns out well, so I’m not complaining. When things don’t go as well as I want or I don’t feel as good as I want, in the end I feel that everything will get better. Winning the tournament in Beijing, against Sinner and other great rivals, has made me arrive here with a lot of confidence. And now I’m in the quarterfinals, so I want more. “I’m confident of having a great result here,” he repeats, feeling the ball again and distancing himself from the erratic performance of the North American tour in August, in which he emotionally failed after having made a huge mental effort during the previous quarter.
Accompanied by the religious cards that his grandmother gives him – the Virgin of Fuenstanta, patron saint of the city of Murcia – and with the golf glove that he has been using these days in Shanghai always in his racket bag, among the jumble of belongings that he usually accumulates disorderly, Alcaraz continues to regain flight and sees Machac in the quarterfinals, whom he defeated exactly a month ago in La Fonteta, in the context of the group stage of the Davis Cup. There, under the roof of Valencia, the rebound began that continues to take hold on this promising, redemptive and necessary Asian track, already aware that the seasons of a great champion do not end when one feels like it, but at the end of November.
WIMBLEDON, WITHOUT LINE JUDGES AFTER 147 YEARS
Always reluctant to change, although less and less and always respecting its original spirit, Wimbledon announced on Wednesday a double novelty for the next edition, the 138th. For the first time in 147 years of the tournament, born in 1877, there will be no linesmen in the British great’s matches.
Therefore, the use of technology—live electronic line singing—will be imposed; i.e. Hawkeye for reviews. When the ball bounces out, it will not be the human voice but the machine. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the vast majority of tournaments have already adopted this system, which implies the disappearance of up to 300 line judges.
On the other hand, the organization also announced a modification in the schedules of the individual finals. Instead of being at 3:00 p.m. Spanish time, both the men’s and women’s races will be scheduled at 5:00 p.m.
