the Spaniard’s plan for the final – Corriere.it

“If you want to become the best, you have to beat the best.” Regardless of the repetitions, the favors of the forecast and the pre-established order of things but not of the recent history of his sport (“Rafa Nadal to win his first title in London, in 2008, defeated Federer”)Carlos Alcaraz is the teenager who today tries to complete the job left in half by Sinner: extend the Wimbledon final with Novak Djokovic up to transforming it into the coup that failed on Friday in the blue. It is of little use to point out that Carlos is 20 years old and the devil is 36, the Djoker on a mission on behalf of the tennis gods (in his sights the 24th Slam and the 8th Wimbledon) is impervious to any reasoning of common sense and owner of a superior tactical intelligence that today Alcaraz should defuse with muscle and brain, choking in his rival’s throat the chase to the Grand Slam, the real one, which no man has achieved since ’69.

Alcaraz’s recipe: “I’ll try to enjoy it”

«Facing a legend motivates me twice as much» said the Spaniard after running in the semifinals Daniil Medvedev9 games conceded sparingly to the Russian, and it’s no use reminding him that the last time he faced the Serbian, on Paris soil just over a month ago, it ended up with the younger one having nervous cramps and the older one promoted to the finals, which he would later win with another boy, Ruud. «I will do breathing and relaxation exercises – he promises -, I won’t arrive on the field so tense, I will try to enjoy every minute of the match, instead in the first set of Roland Garros I wasn’t amused at all. I’ll try to forget that I play against Novak. It will be different.” Since January 2020 he has had a sports psychologist who follows him regularly: «He helps me a lot. I’ll talk to her before the match, I’ll get some good advice.”

For Djokovic any Sunday, for Alcaraz a dream

If the English bookmakers bet on Djoker, who appeared too solid with Sinner to be scratched even by Alcaraz, a strange wind is blowing over Wimbledon. If it is the one of change we will find out on the central defender who threatens to be closed even today (as during the women’s final won in ciapò by the left-handed Czech Vondrousova, first unseeded queen of the open era, on a Jabour paralyzed by tension), because Wimbledon is swept by racing gusts. It would be a shame (choice of the organizers questionable even yesterday): the tournament is outdoors and managing the unexpected is part of the challenge. Alcaraz who impressed with the n.3 Medvedev (“My best match on grass, which risks becoming my favorite surface” he jokes) will find the highest bar in the final. «Djokovic is the best at doing everything. She has no weaknesses: figuring out how to get into his tennis won’t be an easy task. Playing for the Wimbledon title was my wish as a child: for Novak it will be any Sunday, or almost, for me the best day of my life ».

Alcaraz’s father films his opponents’ training sessions

On May 5, 2003, when Carlos Alcaraz was born in El Palmar, Murcia, son of Carlos senior and Virginia Garfia, Djoker turned pro, winning three Futures and three Challenger tournaments between 2003 and 2005. Of the four Alcaraz brothers (the others are Alvaro, Sergio and Jaime), Carlito is the first to follow in the footsteps of his father, a modest former tennis player who later became director of the Real Societad Club de Campo in Murcia. “My dad failed to become a strong professional – he explained here in London -, those were different times, but he didn’t make it”. His father’s dream of filming his son’s rivals training is now Carlos’s dream. It would serve Sigmund Freud on Alcaraz-Djokovic’s high chair.