Carlos Alcaraz is back on top

«My dream is to win Wimbledon», appreciated Carlos Alcaraz with a still warm trophy from Queen’s entwined in his arms. With this victory, the Murcian broke several barriers: the first title on grass, the fourth active tennis player to win on all three surfaces in the same season, the fourth Spaniard to win at Queen’s and return to number one in the world. With 500 points won in the London club in front of him Novak Djokovic and they reward that kid who four years ago gathered with Roger Federer on one of the training courts all English club the possibility of coming to Wimbledon as the first favorite.

It also gives him the chance to become the eighth player in history to win both Queen’s and Wimbledon, joining a select group of John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

But the triumph in the third Grand Slam years it’s still a long way off. It is not only about seven games that the tennis player from El Palmar would have to overcome, but he would also be forced to defeat Djokovic, whom he could only meet in the final and who arrives at this tournament as the main favorite. Despite not having played a single previous tournament since then Roland Garros and rest days spent in Portugal, the Serbian has been practicing for days in facilities where he hasn’t lost since 2017 and where he hasn’t fallen on the center court since the 2013 final.

“I cannot be the favorite with Djokovic. He is an excellent candidate.”intoned Alcaraz, who went from being a rookie on the green to the number two contender at Wimbledon. On Murciano’s schedule, he begins training at Wimbledon’s Aorangi Park this Tuesday or Wednesday and plays an exhibition match on Friday in Hurlingham against Dominic Thiem.

To do this, he returned to his usual routine. Pablo Carreña’s trainer Samuel López, Sergio Hernández, physiotherapist, and Alberto Lledó, physical trainer, go to Spain, and Juan Carlos Ferrero, Juanjo Moreno, physiotherapist, and Juanjo López, physical trainer, come in their places.

time is flowing in your favor

With five games under his belt, what Alcaraz needs is peace and quiet, which is why he is resting at his London home before pushing himself in training. He had a scare in the final against Alex de Miñaur, with discomfort on the inside of his right leg, and does not want his participation at Wimbledon to be jeopardized. That’s why he refused to play an exhibition against Holger’s rune Wednesday at Hurlingham.

The filming of the tournament is already over, and the physical preparation, the one that deprived him of Australia, the finals of Rio de Janeiro, Monte Carlo and the semi-finals of Roland Garros, is a priority in order to compete at maximum intensity for two weeks.

The circuit, moreover, is already remarkable, with five titles (Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, ​​​​​​Madrid and Queen’s), several weeks as number one and several leaps and bounds compared to what her competitors will be in the future , such as Casper Ruud, Rune or Grešnik.

This takes the pressure off the Murcian who, unlike Djokovic, enters Wimbledon with the knowledge that the clock is ticking in his favor. While the Serbian exhausts his options to leave the bar for Mrthe rand slams —currently with 23 titles— as much as possible, Alcaraz has already broken the wall of winning the first and now has more than a decade ahead of him to continue decorating the list of winners.

“I think I will be a great player on grass. When I retire, I’ll have Wimbledon,” qualified Alcaraz, whose dream, whether it comes true this year or not, will be within reach in the future.

This Friday, he will welcome his rivals in London, aware that Djokovic could only appear in the final and that he will have to equal or improve the performance of the Belgrade native in order to remain number one in the world from next July 17. The background is complicated, as no tennis player other than Federer, Nadal, Murray or Djokovic has won Wimbledon since Hewitt in 2002.