At midday, the sun beats down hard on London’s SW19 district, as if it were Benidorm. And there in front of him, on court 14, Carlos Alcaraz can’t find his form during the session with the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who takes out the mallet, hits hard and frustrates the Murcian, two days before the opening at La Catedral. Carlitos can’t seem to see himself today. “I don’t know, but the movements, the supports, the right hand…”, he tells his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who puts it into perspective: “Don’t worry; if I saw you weren’t doing well, I would tell you.”
Direct witnesses of the scene, Alejandro Moro’s virgin eyes do not miss any detail because, after all, the man from Madrid, with broad shoulders, 23 years old and 189th in the world, is fulfilling a great dream these days. The dream, in capital letters: to play his first Grand Slam. And on top of that, Wimbledon. “It is my favorite tournament since I was little, without a doubt. Just the fact of being able to come and being able to play the preview was already super exciting. It’s a piece of place. And, furthermore, I have always favored Novak (Djokovic) and Roger (Federer), and the fact that they have made so much history here…”, introduces the only Spaniard who has been able to make the cut in the qualifying phase. this year to access the main draw.
He scans the Moorish horizon while he talks and his eyes shine, because his story goes beyond the norm and he is very aware of exceptionality. Nothing from wealthy or well-off origins. “My mother has always been a housekeeper and my father a carpenter, so no, there was not much love for tennis. Like any child, I was enrolled in a lot of sports as a child and one day, when I was playing basketball, my father parked right in front of the courts; So, when we were going to go home, I told him: I would like to try it. And that’s how I started, at the age of nine,” he says, also remembering that he comes from Torres de la Alameda, 40 kilometers from Madrid, and that Emilio Sánchez Vicario helped him “a lot” by hosting him for three years in his academies in Barcelona and Florida, because I saw that it could take off.
“I come from a family where we have never had the means to spare. My parents had to make a number of big sacrifices, they gave up a lot of things so I could play; they went to the limit a bit, but well, they were there from the very beginning and I was also lucky that the school in Alcalá de Henares, where I started, also supported me financially because we couldn’t afford it. The other coach I brought in (Boba Nikolenko, whom he met in the United States; the one who has been coaching him since he was a child is David Flores) has also supported me from the first minute with that part; everyone has believed that I had the level to be able to reach this situation,” he continues.
Bautista, a reference
To begin with, for the mere fact of having accessed the main draw he will receive a check for more than 70,000 euros and, he says, he has already stopped by the club store to buy souvenirs for all his friends with the 150 pound bonus that the organization grants to the professionals.
“I would love to bring them here, but at least they have something…”, continues Moro, who describes himself as the prototypical Spanish player – according to the historical pattern, not so much the modern one – “with grit, being at the back and playing a lot of shots”, although his serve is raising him to a higher level and uncovering him on grass. So far he has only played three matches on the ATP circuit, the three he played a year ago in Mallorca, and on Monday he will face local Jacob Fearnley. If he wins, he could face Novak Djokovic in a hypothetical second round on the unrivalled Centre Court.
He, however, cites the veteran Roberto Bautista as his main reference. “I have always followed him a lot, I love how he plays; I have felt identified with him and, in fact, last year we had the opportunity to face each other in the challenger From Valencia. It was incredible, a before and after even, in my career and in my life,” he points out, also highlighting the spirit of Carlos Alcaraz, two years younger but equally inspiring. “He is an example in every sense. “I stay with his character on the court, with how he transmits many values of tennis and with that courage and that audacity that he has,” concludes the young man from Madrid, willing to continue progressing stone by stone: “Little by little and with that base of work ”.
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