“I’m proud to have reached the end of the season this year.”

It hasn’t been easy, but he understands he’s 22 years old and has a lot to absorb. He has five Grand Slams and three titles and is not a bad student who realizes he still has room to grow. It assumes stripes and the requirement to be professional. It’s also becoming better understood that the most important thing on the journey to excellence: “It’s a process, especially recognizing what it takes to motivate yourself off the course, and recognizing that the season is very long.” The end of the year can be exhausting, but this year, with more time spent at home between tournaments, it’s a great way to stay mentally and physically fit and fresh.

The Murcian was all smiles and picked up the fuchsia pink jersey as the first match reassured him and brought him closer to his great goal of achieving mastery and number one. There are only two games left. “It’s always good to start a tournament with a win. It gives you confidence for the rest of the matches. If you win, it’s because you played well and your level was very high. You’re showing your rivals and yourself and it’s very positive. This year’s Top 8 It’s either me playing well or they’re going to eat you. It’s the first time we’ve won the first match, so we want to improve on what we didn’t do well and be motivated for the next match,” he explained.

He does a lot of things well, but everything is easy, safe and light in the first stretch where he thinks he has the advantage at 4-1 and 0-40. And it was all very simple, a drop in intensity, tension and effectiveness caused him to capsize in the first set against De Mignol, who took advantage of the opportunity. The long and varied exchanges put pressure on him, but it’s a far cry from the dizzying trajectory of previous years, where he thwarted such attacks and defenses. “Alex is very good on this surface. He is very fast, so he is a very difficult opponent. You need to score points three or four times each time. Yes, the track is a little faster than in Paris, but with each training session I am getting used to it. The more I use the center track, the faster I get. Today I found it earlier than in Paris. But I like it. It’s amazing how much has changed in just one week,” he emphasizes.

There was an impact not only on the court but also on the ball, giving a completely different impression than the match at the Parisian Masters 1000. “Everything goes much faster here, you don’t have time to find your topspin and the ball doesn’t open up. In Paris, the serve didn’t do as much damage, the exchanges were longer, and that made the opponent bigger. The ball is similar, but you can do more damage because of the speed of the court.

The damage was caused by De Mignard, who dug into the Murcian’s wounds, making up to 19 mistakes in that section. First serves, forehands (net or outside), and drop shots are prohibited. But a stroke of luck happens that changes everything. At 4-4, the drive curved low, but the ball licked the tape and landed on the other side of the net. The Australian is still there, but, as is his wont, he was guilty of being too naive at key points and too soft of hands and head against the Murcian opposite. Serving for a tiebreak at 3-5, one trembles while the other tries his best. The forehand, the drop shot at the end, and of course the opponent’s mistake. first set.

Shows, setbacks, and “go for it”

Despite the swapping of the “break” at the beginning of Chapter 2, the best Alcaraz of the afternoon (32 winners) appeared and is still improving. Questionable about his forehand, he developed the unappealing backhand he had been working on so faithfully for months, hurting the Australian with pinpoint effectiveness and compassion, especially on the parallels. “I’ve felt it for a while. It’s something we focus on very much in training. This is a very important blow in Paris (we tried it, but it didn’t work) and in training. And when you insist on something even though it didn’t come out, it comes out. There’s nothing happier than when the plan works. “We’ve been very solid and played very good tennis, and above all we’ve been brave in the important moments.”

Like in the tiebreak, like in the second set.

Throughout the show, he clung to his numbers-boosting serves (up to 67% effectiveness), his scores, his style, and the confidence that led him to play the colorful, fun tennis he loves, drawing smiles and applause from the 13,000-seat stands and taking part in the “show.” Alcaraz, without brakes, puts his fingers up to celebrate how he got here, learns his lessons and aspires to this coveted prize: to become a teacher and to be number one. Of the three steps required of him, he has already taken one, the first and most difficult.