Let’s not exaggerate the giant Juan Carlos Ferrero any more
On ESPN, before the final, John McEnroe wonders:
-How many years have we been waiting for the changing of the guard? How many years have we felt that the dominance of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic is coming to an end? Will this ever happen?
We found out the answer almost five hours later, when Carlos Alcaraz (20) overthrew Novak Djokovic (36) and claimed his first Wimbledon crown, the second Grand Slam of his sporting career; that’s already a third change.
(…)
In the prolegomena, how many questions the finale had offered us!
-Djokovic is invulnerable, he has everything – Albert Costa and Roberto Carretero, former tennis players and now Movistar television commentators, explained to me a few days ago, when the courtesy car of the tournament was taking us from here to there. And Alcaraz, almost, is also invulnerable.
-Djokovic is invulnerable, he has everything – Albert Costa and Roberto Carretero, former tennis players and now Movistar television commentators, explained to me a few days ago, when the courtesy car of the tournament was taking us from here to there. And Alcaraz, almost, is also invulnerable.
Alcaraz comes out into the open, and hidden in the bushes Djokovic shoots him. The Serb is waiting for him from the bottom of the court, and in his own way Djokovic discourages Alcaraz, the puppy who, when he is left, counts the Serb’s bots, the time the other invests between point and point.
One, two, and so on up to twenty.
Djokovic simmers.
Dressed in nuclear white, with no caps or ribbons in their hair, number one and number two are two clones. Powerful lower body, both have a sharp torso, they are elastic, they are very fast, dark and short hair, two individuals from the Mediterranean, beard of a few days, beard of a fierce fighter, few physical elements distinguish one from the other.
One of these distinctive elements is tone.
When Alcaraz opens his legs and launches a balloon that bounces to a sigh from the baseline, Wimbledon roars because he saw the ball in, and Djokovic is suspicious and calls for a review because he saw it out, and then the Serb laughs at public: the video proves it right.
And he has done it again.
Djokovic is already playing against the whole world and also against that McEnroe who talks about the changing of the guard.
And so, Djokovic likes himself. The more you challenge him, the more he gets into it.
And he executes a perfect match opening: he limits himself to giving blows from the back of the court, and from there he administers the despair that confuses Alcaraz.
At 27 minutes he has already broken Alcaraz’s serve twice, he is already 0-5 up, he has already woven his web. The Murcian avoids zero, but nothing saves him from 1-6.
The interlude restarts Alcaraz: balls that used to go out now fall in. The rallies get longer, Alcaraz administers patience, there is nothing left of those Sampras-Ivanisevic finals, pure service and no exchange.
Physically and strategically, the match is balanced. There is the psychological factor.
Djokovic knows a world about this. This is his 35th Grand Slam final, the ninth at Wimbledon. He slept well the night before: for him, this is another day at the office. He will not shy away now, as he is now widening the gap on Nadal (the manacorí has ??22 grands) to achieve a greater feat, Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slams, the absolute plus mark.
And Alcaraz?
He doesn’t get scared either. He moves forward while the public uncorks champagne and Djokovic begins to argue with his box: Ivanisevic, the coach, is his punching bag.
The tie-break is a 400m race. It is contested in a sprint and out of breath, and Alcaraz scores it. The data is important, and distinguishes the Murcian: until then, Djokovic had claimed his last fifteen sudden deaths.
The adjustment upsets Djokovic, the man who has strung together 45 victories on Center Court. He hasn’t lost there since 2013: that’s 3,661 days, but now he’s faced. The parish bets party for Murcia. Alcaraz has found cruising speed and the Serbian is complaining about his left thigh. He wears a bandage on his hamstring. It’s not a cat anymore. Then, Alcaraz endorses another break, at the beginning of the third hose.
Playing out of the way, Djokovic now protests to the umpire.
–Buuu.
London boos the Serb.
While Djokovic burns, Alcaraz is ice cream, this looks like a McEnroe-Borg.
The fifth game gets stuck, it is extended for 26 minutes. Djokovic fights back, saves six break points, but concedes the seventh. With a 4-1 lead in the third set, Djokovic seems to collapse and Alcaraz takes possession of the partial and the stage.
-Djokovic will go to the bathroom to think – predicts Nacho Albarrán, a colleague of the newspaper As.
It happens the same way.
Djokovic leaves the scene and leaves Alcaraz alone, walking on the grass of Center Court, while Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman, Ariana Grande, King Felipe and the Princes of Wales look on.
Alcaraz asks the judge:
– How long do you have to wait for it?
It’s ten minutes. enough
The maneuver disturbs Alcaraz, chills him. Suddenly, he no longer dominates the game, once again he has been wrapped in the Serbian’s web. Twice he loses his serve on the fourth hole, which slips away.
He looks like a magician, this Djokovic.
What a rollercoaster!
Even so, Alcaraz does not panic: he continues to pressure Djokovic, who loses his serve in the third game and also his manners, and smashes the racket against the base of the judge’s chair. It leaves a nice notch.
With 3-1 up in the deciding set, Alcaraz focuses on maintaining his serve: “Djokovic has two arms and two legs”, Ferrero had told him on the eve.
In the last game, he completes the feat with a balloon, a volley and a direct serve.
