Alcaraz begins in New York his reign in world tennis
The young Carlitos is already the new world tennis number one. Carlos Alcaraz Garfia won his first Grand Slam on the biggest tennis court in the world, the Arthur Ashe in New York, in four sets against another of the figures of the future of tennis, Casper Ruud.
At 19 years of age, he repeats the age at which Nadal won his first major tournament. But it should not be normal to compare the Mallorcan and the Murcian because the paths, times and rivals are different.
Alcaraz is playing for his career in a circuit where people hit the ball very hard, something he can counteract, but also in a sport where bad manners have come to stay represented by figures like Nick Kyrgios.
The Big Three (Nadal-Federer-Djokovic) is fading as the months go by. And now comes a tennis where Alcaraz seeks to dominate the fast court, the brick dust and the grass of Wimbledon that already surrenders to Charles III before Charles I arrives, one day.
Alcaraz won himself because in the second set everything seemed doomed to that great defeat that many were asking for to consolidate his career on frustrations before the glory arrives. But the 2-6 did not end with the Murcian who felt the strength of El Palmar cheering him from thousands of kilometres away concentrated in the town square.
A long-suffering 7-6 and a 6-3 where Ruud was no longer able to do anything because the Spaniard's shots came and went without time to react.
During the psychological slump Juan Carlos Ferrero asked his pupil to "concentrate", but not in his game, rather in his head where his thoughts did not allow him to focus clearly on the match.
Alcaraz never gives up. He achieved superhuman points throughout the tournament and in the final it was not going to be less if the voice of "Never gonna give you up", Rick Astley, followed the match with nerves and hands intertwined with other personalities such as Bon Jovi, Spike Lee or Michael Bloomberg.
In addition to Carlos Alcaraz's epic performance, three more Spaniards conquered the American court. Martín Landaluce from Madrid, US Open junior champion, and Martín de la Puente from Galicia, wheelchair doubles champion alongside Frenchman Nicolás Peifer.
"I'm sure there will be many more", this is not what the public says, but what Rafa Nadal says, who a few minutes after the final congratulated Alcaraz and cheered Ruud on.
