The “boy” in Alcaraz and his wish for this Wimbledon with Federer involved – Spain’s News

While Carlos Alcaraz was applauded on track 1 of Wimbledon In his debut with a victory against the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy (6-0, 6-2 and 7-5), on center court there was an even bigger ovation: Roger Federer, the king of Wimbledon, was in the kingdom that he conquered eight times, but not dressed in shorts, but in a suit, to be honored. Actually, when he played he also seemed to be wearing a tailcoat, since there has not been a more elegant tennis player than him, without playing nice being at odds with winning. That is also what Carlos Alcaraz thinks and that is why the fans adore him like the Swiss. And they even compare him to him. “I like that they think about me that way, but I have a lot left. On grass, no one is going to be able to look like Roger, because of his elegance. I’ve seen a lot of videos about him and I would love it and I’ll try to look a little bit like him,” explained the Spaniard. after his triumph, in a press conference in which he took out part of the child that he still is. “Once I finished the game and I was in the locker room, I saw that he was here and I felt jealous that he was in the central office,” he joked.

Carlos has always said that the thorn he has left is never having been able to face the Swiss. They did train together once, precisely at Wimbledon in 2019, with an anecdote included since the Swiss wanted to repeat and called saying by mistake that he wanted to play with Juan Carlos again, not with Carlos, and there he showed up ferrero, the Murcian coach, to pass some balls with his former rival, with the tennis player with whom he fought in his time for world number one. “And he didn’t miss a ball, he could continue on the circuit,” Federer admitted on “Juanki.”

“Hopefully Federer can come to see one of my matches”

Alcaraz acknowledges that he has the photo of that preparatory session with Federer hanging in his room. “I’m glad he’s still here, involved in tennis. I’m sure that when he’s done he’ll have a lot of things to do and I don’t know if I’ll be able to see him. Being able to talk to him would be incredible for me. I’d love it. I wish he was around more days and could see one of my games”, added the “boy” Carlos. Recently, the Murcian has recognized in an interview in Movistar that it is still not believed that athletes and characters (such as MessiNBA player Jimmy Butler…) approach him and tell him that they admire him. “I consider myself a child, a boy from the town. It’s hard for me to assimilate that I’m famous and that people pay attention to me,” says Carlos.

A round premiere

All this fame is part of what he has to control as number one in the world, and from his environment they assure that he takes it very well. He finished the match against Chardy, and still had some time to take “selfies” with some fans and sign some autographs. In reality, it wasn’t an exhausting game for him either, as he spent less than two hours on court against an opponent who started giving too many facilities. The only asterisk that can be put on victory is that: the Frenchman is a tennis player who has been unemployed for almost two years due to a complicated covid and vaccine and a knee operation. His determination led him to want to say goodbye on a track, he returned in January and this was his last game as a professional. He started by conceding (seven double faults in the first set) and Alcaraz won the first eight games in a row.

Yes there was a battle in the third set, with Chardy finer with the serve and with the forehand. He even got a break ahead, but Carlos’s reaction was immediate to regain ground and not take the duel much further unnecessarily. It can be said that it was a round day: the Spaniard moved well, even to defend some impossible balls; he offered his good handful of incredible points (the precise drop shot, the millimeter lob, the accelerated forehand) and did not wear himself out excessively. He played, by the way, without the bandage on his right leg. “Physically I feel very well,” he admitted. Let’s see if Federer can see his next game.