Carlos Alcaraz had an honor this Monday within the reach of very few. The Wimbledon champion opens play on the main court of the All England Club. Before the Murcian, only two other Spanish tennis players had experienced the same sensation: Manolo Santana and Rafael Nadal..
Santana, winner of the 1966 edition, he lost in the first round a year later against the American Charlie Pasarell. It was June 26, 1967. Rafael Nadal also played in the first turn of the center on June 20, 2011a season after winning his second title in the big grass. In his case he defeated Michael Russell.
His first twist had been in 2008, but he missed the tournament in 2009 due to tendonitis in both knees.. The Wimbledon organization invited Sebastián and Ana María, parents of the player, to witness his first match as champion in the exclusive Royal Box. This time present in the front row was David Beckham.
Alcaraz, executioner of Mark Lajal by 7-6(3), 7-5 and 6-2, he got up as if it were just another day. I trained two and a half hours before the debut with el ‘sparring’ brit�nico, Thomas Linley. Then he went to eat something with his entire team, present in its entirety in London. On Sunday, his doctor, Juanjo López, joined.
Carlitos started serving. The score shot up to 0-30. I was experiencing the nerves of debut. Despite playing with second serves, He opened his locker with four points in one fell swoop.
It was a matter of time to grease the machinery. The grass is especially slippery in the first days of competition, especially if you use it for the first time on the opening day, as was the case with the El Palmar tennis player.
Lajal stood up thanks to serves with spikes of 210 kilometers per hour. He hit hard and endured the exchanges. A 15-40 was made in the fifth game.
The world number three saved the first break point with an early bounce that turned into a drop shot. He couldn’t with the second: 2-3. Murmur in the stands about the performance of the unknown Estonian player.
Lajal’s greatest moment of glory lasted exactly one game and two minutes, Which is how long it took the defender of the crown to equal the set to three. She made it blank.
Alcaraz’s right was already an impossible weapon to counter. He scored 10 points in a row. They were enough to take the lead again, 4-3.
Mark continued to believe it and earned spectacular points on the way to sudden death. In the tie break, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil lost the first serve. His opponent was pushing him to the limit.
At 3-3, Carlitos launched himself into the net like Boris Becker, but was unable to return the ball.. The first set would fall on the best side with a double fault.
Lajal had died on the shore. She had been bothered by her inexperience; for him it was her debut in a big league. In the young Spaniard’s statistics there were already 62 games, with 52 wins and 10 losses..
In his 13 previous appearances in the majors he had always passed the initial screening. This time was not going to be an exception no matter how much his adversary put all his effort into torpedoing the target.
Only three players won four Grand Slams aged 21 or younger. The Murcian is in that race to get on a list that includes Bj�rn Borg, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander.
The Swede already knows about Alcaraz’s abilities. Not in vain did he present him with the Musketeers Cup at Roland Garros on June 9.
Lajal was not going to give up and had a 30-40 to go up 2-0 in the second set. I failed once, but not the second time. The script of the initial manga was repeated. It was the champion’s turn to come back and that’s what he did. I used the same formula. A ‘break’ then and blank. Two games in a row without losing a single point.
Carlitos got a 5-4 ball from the rest. That’s why he served later with the pressure of having to tie at five. The outcome seemed destined for a second tie break. The third favorite in the draw avoided it with his second break.
Alcaraz was not willing to spend much more time than necessary on the green carpet. It is important to save energy for what is coming. In his case it is a second round with Sebastian Ofner or Alexander Vukic. He headed straight for the 182nd victory of his career, the eighth in a row at Wimbledon.
