You just got off the tube at Southfields station, everything is easier than in the previous days. The instructions of the subway employees to order the transfer of people are not listened to, nor do they have to wait their turn to be able to cross the first traffic light, from which the pleasant path to Wimbledon begins.. Everything is back to normal. Even the seagulls seem to glide differently through the sky. The light rain gives a different quality to the renewed silence.

You have to take Wimbledon Park Road and immediately turn right to appear at 79 Prince's Way, the chalet where Carlos Alcaraz (El Palmar, 2003) has been staying with his entire team for more than a month. The first image is that of his little brother, Jaime, working hard in front of the basketball hoop.. Inside, the great protagonist arranges clothes in his suitcase. A talkative neighbor aboard his car calls his father to congratulate him and ask him to come back next year.. Inside, on a table, a good number of British newspapers of the day are spread out where the photo of the Wimbledon champion prevails, who, affable, almost as if nothing had happened, sits down to talk to EL MUNDO.

It seems that, apart from working with his technical team, he has learned a lot by emulation, assimilating the tennis he has seen. Yes, yes, in the end you have to learn from the great people and the great legends, from other players. There is no other way to continue progressing than by watching tennis and taking advantage of the fact that nowadays you have everything very close at hand and very easy to see repeated matches, videos, plays, players and learn from all of them. What is the first match you played? Did you ever see? The first game I remember seeing? Phew! The truth is that I agree, eh, I remember… To the Spanish: David Ferrer, Nicolás Almagro, Robredo. In Valencia, when the ATP tournament was held there, we would go with the club, with my friends and the whole school from my club on a bus to watch matches.. And I remember seeing all the Spaniards. He has played three times with Nadal and as many times with Djokovic. Who poses more difficulties for you? Each one generates their problems for you. Both. I couldn't tell you one. Djokovic has his things. Rafael too. They are both legends of our sport and they both make it very difficult for you. What is the type of player that bothers you the most? Honestly, it has always cost me a little more to win against people who are very solid in the background. Also those who have good starting shots. Those who serve very well and subtract well, such as Zverev, Auger-Aliassime… I also find these types of players uncomfortable. He has shown that he learns very quickly in tennis, now with his triumphant adaptation to grass. Does the same thing happen to you in other facets of life? Yes, the truth is that I take lessons quite quickly, I learn things easily. I am a boy who, if he pays attention to something, internalizes it with a certain speed. At school too? Yes, I was good at numbers. Not because I am a skilled person with them, but because I mastered them quickly. Then there were other things that, no matter how good you are at assimilating them, if you don't study, you don't study. He didn't like studying very much Well, in the end he preferred to play tennis. There are people who find it difficult to study and others who don't.. And some things cost me a little more. What was your first toy? Oysters! My first toy? I could not tell. I don't know, a racket, if we can consider it as a toy, that small racket could be. I do not remember well. The typical animal toys too, from when you were little. What memories do you have from before you played tennis? Before tennis? I have always played tennis. I started at the age of four and before that age I don't remember much of anything. My life has been getting involved in tennis. I had my group of friends with whom I also hung out outside of tennis and they were the same ones with whom I trained, when I was six, seven years old. Everything he did was related to tennis. Every hour of the day, except when he had to study and go to school, he spent at the club. My life has always been like this. Was I good and obedient as a child? No, no, I have been naughty. The typical nonsense at school. Throwing paper airplanes in class, the little balls you projected with the pen. I have been doing mischief, not very fat, but I have been a little mischievous.

Greg Lemond won the '89 Tour by sneaking out to eat pizza on rest days. Famous is the episode of the Bahamontes ice cream at the top of the Col de Romeyère. Or the two chocolate bars that Indurain gobbled up after his bird in Les Arcs, in the lost Tour of 96. Food and the cyclist, that relationship so essential and at the same time so delicate.

“Tadej is a glutton,” says Joseba Elguezabal, the shadow of Pogacar. And yet, in his spartan self-containment, he will win the Tour against which he opposes, 10 seconds behind Vingegaard before the time trial on Tuesday. On the fine line of one gram above or one gram below, of sufficient energy to respond to extreme efforts, not to go overboard but not to fall short either.. “Everything is measured. If we have sushi, the cooks measure how many grams of rice, how many of salmon, how many of mango for each runner depending on the expense they have made,” explains Gorka Prieto, nutritionist for the UAE Emirates, to EL MUNDO.

In addition to technology and sports science applied to training, nutrition has become the performance revolution in recent years. The key to so many records swallowed, even faster than in the hard days of doping. The diet of cyclists is influenced by nutritionists and chefs, daily scales but also the most sophisticated apps. “We use the Training Peaks platform, where runners upload their activity and there you can see the kilojoules [unit of measurement for the amount of energy used] that they have expended during the stage and based on that the food is adjusted,” Prieto details, trained in nutrition at the University of Navarra and with a specialized master's degree in sport.

Foodtracks

It is a daily and personalized work that extends over time. The diet thinking about the Tour begins “two months” before. Already in the concentrations in height the teams travel with chefs and duties. Later, during the race, the work of Gorka and his colleagues -there is no team without a foodtrack; they travel before each stage and await them with dinner made in the hotels- it focuses on the four daily meals: breakfast, during the stage, recovery and dinner. And there each nutritionist has to 'play' also with the tastes of each runner. “We try to give them many options. They can choose, respecting the quantities.”

For example, Pogacar at breakfast opts for “rice porridge and pancakes, bread, cake bowl…. eat everything”. “Tadej is very aware, especially this year with the issue of weight. He does everything to the letter. And if he has any questions he asks me: 'Hey, can I eat this?' Sometimes I tell him that better than that not. It maintains the same weight as in recent years”, details Prieto, who before joining the UAE in 2020 worked at Euskadi Murias.

And then, of course, there are the whims of guys so often fed up with pasta and rice: “They ask me for hamburgers, they miss fatty foods. And on the day off we put it on, with their bread, with their cheese…. They can be made 'healthy', with good meat. And there's no problem.”

cooling

More concern leads the physiological managers of each team to hydration, especially in the extremely hot stages that are repeated more and more in the Tour. Fans, ice vests, cold water tubs and even gloves to cool down. But diet can also help “lower body temperature”. “We make ice creams, granitas, they pour very cold water over their heads. The liquid they lose is highly variable, from one to three kilos. From 2%, the performance decreases. You have to make sure they are there”, details the nutritionist about the 'cooling'.

It is, therefore, “almost impossible” to see extreme collapses like those of yesteryear. On each handlebar, the cyclist has a legend reminding him where and what to eat during the stage. “If there is a bird, it is because the runner has not remembered to eat. But with all the refreshment points that are in the stages, it is practically impossible.” They have gels, bars, isotonic drinks that combine in order to a plan. And finally, caffeine. “It is an ergogenic help, especially for the final part of the race. If it is a stage where they are not going to do anything, then better not. It is calculated how many kilometers you must take it for it to take effect in the last 15-20 minutes.

And in Paris… “There I have told the cook to do what he wants, open bar in all senses”, especially if Pogacar manages to reconquer.

Without a team since his abrupt departure from Sevilla in December 2022, Isco Alarcón (31 years old) breaks a five-year silence in an interview with the newspaper Marca in which he reveals some unpleasant episodes that he experienced last season. The midfielder stands out above all the confrontation with Monchi, who was the sports director of the Seville team, which came to physical violence.

In the first chapter of the interview, the Málaga soccer player tells how he arrived in Seville last summer at the hands of Lopetegui: “He called me and told me he loved me…. In the end Lopetegui is one of the coaches with whom I have been the best and with the best performance I have had. I had other offers from Italy, but I considered it a good step in my career…”.

But everything went wrong in October when the coach was fired and the winter market was approaching. “They called my representative to find a way out, without previously speaking to me, so as soon as I found out I went to speak directly with Monchi,” says Isco.. “I told him: “Hey, this has come to me, I don't know what's going on, I don't know if you love me, if you don't love me…. Be honest with me and we'll work it out.. I am at your disposal”, continues. “After that conversation, Monchi was saying that I wanted to leave, something that was not true,” he explains.

Confrontation

Then came the harsh clash between the two. Isco spoke to the sports director again: “I told him that he was the most deceitful person I had ever met in the world of football and he attacked me. He came towards me, he grabbed me by the neck, we moved apart and they had to separate us completely. As you will understand, after that, I did not want to continue there under any circumstances”, says the former Real Madrid player.

At that moment, frustration seized Isco, who broke his contract with Sevilla in December: “I had been in Seville for four months, after a move with three children…. And then you suddenly see yourself with doubts about what is going to happen, where we are going to go, the schools…. It's complicated, but you have to be strong and look forward.”. Then came a frustrated attempt to transfer to Unión Berlin in the winter market and various offers without materializing.

Now Isco is training alone while waiting for “a project in which he can have continuity, a team that wants to play football with a fun, associative style…. I am in a moment of my career in which, after winning everything, what I want now is to enjoy.”. For the man from Malaga, money is not a priority: “I have and had many offers from Qatar and Arabia, with large amounts, but I want to play, compete and have fun.”

One of the novel presences in Carlos Alcaraz's box at Wimbledon is that of Noelia, his English teacher, who lives in London and has been invited to watch some of his matches.. He has been teaching him for a long time and they have taken advantage of this long period in the British capital, where he arrived almost a month ago to play the Queen's tournament, to meet in some of the player's spare time and continue advancing in his improvement of a language in the which is showing itself more and more developed.

Courageous and intuitive, as he is on the pitch, he has no problems making interventions on the court, once each match is over, nor in press conferences, which he resolves with sympathy and the necessary loquacity almost always without the need to ask for help. to the communication manager who gives voice to the different accredited journalists.

Another of the new additions to the group that accompanies him is his little brother, Jaime, 12, who usually sits next to his mother, Virginia.. In the final he was joined by his brother Sergio, third by age, along with Antonio Martínez Cascales, Ferrero's mentor throughout his career and also a member of the technical team.. He already has a photo with Jannik Sinner, one of Carlos' great rivals, which was taken a few days ago in London and posted on his Instagram account.. Álvaro, the eldest of the four brothers, 24 years old, has been traveling with Carlos to tournaments for some time and has enough tennis shoes to practice sparring in some training, as happened a few days ago here, in London. Sergio, the third in age, is the one who least lavishes himself publicly.

Carlos, his father, accompanies him to all the tournaments, where his mother Verónica is also very often. Other older members of the family also tend to join, linked not only by blood but also by the love of tennis that runs through the entire saga.

The leader of the group

At the head of the technical team has been Juan Carlos Ferrero for six years. The former champion of Roland Garros, finalist of the United States Open, hero in the first of the six Davis Cups conquered by Spain and number 1 in the world, previously trained Alexander Zverev, a tennis player with a difficult character, highly conditioned by the figure of his father, who also works as a coach, and who also had David Ferrer on his bench and, until a few months ago, Sergi Bruguera.

Alcaraz, colossal, ends five years of Djokovic's reign and is crowned at Wimbledon

Ferrero responded to the proposal of Albert Molina, the player's agent since its inception, and Alcaraz began working at the age of 15 at the academy that the former tennis player directs in Villena. Soon they began to travel together around the world, from small tournaments, with dedication and patience.. The raw material was excellent, but there was work to be done, order the talent, temper the head and build an appropriate physique to join the seniors.

A team led by his physical trainer, Alberto Lledó, was in charge of this facet, including Juanjo Moreno, the physiotherapist and recuperator with whom he travels to each tournament, and Sergio Hernández. The substantial change in his armor occurred at the start of 2022, after six weeks of preseason in Villena. He gave up playing any tournament before the Australian Open to apply himself meticulously to shape his physique. “The objective was to guide the muscle fibers towards achieving greater strength and speed,” Moreno explained to this newspaper once the transformation was completed.. Alcaraz had already won the first of his 11 titles in Umag in the summer of 2021 and reached the quarterfinals of the US Open after giving the big blow in the third round, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the quarterfinals, against Felix Auger-Aliassime, his physique did not reach him and he retired injured, already with a set against. His doctor, Juanjo López, is also the backbone of the group and travels with him to all the competitions.

Isabel Balaguer is in charge of caring for the soul, an important figure in helping it metabolize in the face of the extraordinary emotional impact of everything she faces at only 20 years of age.. His first psychologist was Josefina Cutillas, who attended him when he was younger.

Sport at its most demanding, professional, is an activity defined by the physical splendor of its practitioners and, therefore, a realm reserved for young people. Sometimes even the extremely young, still far from physiological and muscular fullness.. The existence of great early talents is revealed as a constant in the memory of sport. Carlos Alcaraz is one of those examples. Winner at Wimbledon at the age of 20, he already prevailed at 19 at the United States Open and became, in addition, the youngest ATP number one in history.

Women, who generally develop earlier than men, more often break precocity records. On the other hand, some disciplines (tennis, swimming, gymnastics…), according to medical explanations that exceed the scope of this work, are more open than others to the youth revolution.. In tennis, Conchita Martínez and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario dominated the Spanish courts from childhood. Margaret Court (who turned 81 on Sunday the 16th), Mary Pierce, Martina Hingis, Mónica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Tracy Austin, Gabriela Sabatini, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams began to reach the top while still “teenagers”. Hingis and Williams were already professionals at the age of 14. Capriati, at los 13. Hingis won the Australian Open at the age of 16. Seles had won nine Grand Slams before he was 20.

Rafael Nadal won his first Roland Garros at the age of 19. And Michael Chang his only one with 17. Mats Wilander was also 17 when he won the first of his three Roland Garros, and 18 when he won the first of his three Australian Opens.. The same age as Boris Becker, winner of six Grand Slams, when he took Wimbledon in 1985. Björn Borg, king six times at Roland Garros and, consecutively, five times at Wimbledon, also had 18 in his first title in Paris. He was equally early in his retirement. He hung up the racket at the age of 26.

Nadia Comaneci at the Montreal 76 Games. AP

In gymnastics, Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she made the world fall in love at the Montreal 76 Olympic Games. Liudmila Turischeva was 15 when she obtained, in the Mexico 68 team contest, the first of her four Olympic golds in three editions of the Games. Olga Korbut shone in her 17 years when in Munich 1972 she hung three gold medals from her graceful neck. Simone Biles was already world champion on floor at 16.

Pelé, in 1958, in Sweden, was world champion at the age of 17, the same age at which Cruyff debuted at Ajax, Raúl at Madrid and Messi at Barcelona. Maradona was still 15 (he had 10 days left to turn 16) when he did the same with Argentinos Juniors.

It is common for basketball players to stand out very early. But not as much as Ricky Rubio, who debuted in the ACB at 14 years, 11 months and 24 days. Juan Antonio Corbalán was 15 years old when Real Madrid entered and was international at 16, before even having a record for the first white team, with whom he had only participated, as a guest, in a game.

Swimming is especially cozy with the most tender. The examples are practically innumerable.. But worth some. Michael Phelps was already fifth, at the age of 15, in the 200 butterfly at the Sydney 2000 Games. And with 15 years and nine months he broke the world record of 200 butterfly. Thus, he surpassed Ian Thorpe, record holder of the 400 freestyle at the age of 16 years and 10 months, in precocity in such high competitions.

Ledecky in a swimming competition. AFP

Katie Ledecky was also fifteen when she won, in London 2012, in the 800 free, the first of her seven Olympic gold medals. Also at that age Shane Gould achieved in Munich 72, three golds, one silver and one bronze. And, seen and not seen, he withdrew. He left the sport almost still at puberty. Missy Franklin made her Olympic debut in London at the age of 17 with five medals, four of them gold. Mikaela Shiffrin, ski's top star, entered the World Cup with 16 and achieved the first of her 88 victories with 17.

Engine

Motorcycles have seen teenage champions: Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo…. Formula 1, on the other hand, is not for youngsters. But Marx Verstappen was that same age, 17, when he made his debut in the highest category of motorsport. In golf you have to be very curdled. For this reason, it should be noted that “Tiger” Woods was 21 when he won his first Major (Augusta) and Severiano Ballesteros was 22 when he reigned at the British Open.

Athing Mu was 19 when she was the 800m Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020. Jakob Ingebrigtsen was already absolute European champion of 1,500 and 5,000 at the age of 17 and, in Tokyo, Olympic 1,500 at 20. In the pole vault, Sergei Bubka and Armand Duplantis began their festival of records and medals before they turned 20.

Henman's Hill, named in the 1990s in honor of British tennis player Tim Henman, became the final of Wimbledon on 'Charlie's Hill'. Shouts of “Come on!” on center court they found a wide echo in what the Scotsman Ami McQuarrie also renamed “the Alcaraz amphitheatre”, due to the popular clamor in favor of the Spanish, despite the headwind that slipped through the cracks of the All England Club in the start of the match.

“It's exciting to see him play with that energy and with so many expectations placed on him,” Ami admitted.. “I believe that most of the British have been with him throughout it all because of that combination of youth and humility, because of his status as 'underdog' against Djokovic and the challenge to take up the torch of the new generation,” he added.

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Ami was accompanied by the Scottish Lindsay Archibald (Alcaraz fan) and Liz Wayner, an American living in London, who stood out from her thirty-year-old friends and confessed her weakness for the Serbian, implacable in the first half hour of play.

The three of them got up at four in the morning to sign up for the ticket queue for the day (they made number 250) and get, for eight pounds, a privileged position in front of the giant screen installed outside track number one, already the foot of the legendary hill, where tradition dictates eating strawberries.

“This is the moment when the relief should take place,” Lindsay pointed out.. “I think we are facing a tennis player who will make history in the next ten or fifteen years. His forehands and his serve impress me, but I think it's also a matter of attitude and personality. He has something that his generation colleagues still do not have, although there are very good ones,” he valued.

In the role of killjoy, Liz Wayner acknowledged that Djokovic can sometimes be “arrogant”, and that this biases him against the public. “But I have always admired his way of playing tennis.. In fact, I had a broken heart for a while between him and Federer, who for me are still the greatest.”

Inside the center court, suffering like all Spaniards in the first sets, was King Felipe VI. In the Royal Box, Prince William appeared for the first time in the tournament, wrapping up the ubiquitous Kate Middleton and her children George and Charlotte. Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Guy Ritchie rounded out the all-star roster in the final.

The center court erupted in a clamor of “Carlos, Carlos!”, in the last two balls of the second set, when Alcaraz managed to turn the “tie break” around.. Brad Pitt joined the party applauding wildly for the Spaniard, who put his hand to his ear after finishing off the second round and to the general uproar.

Brad Pitt watching the match between Alcaraz and Djokovic. ADRIAN DENNIS AFP

During their “big week” at Wimbledon, Carlitos was seen by none other than Queen Camila, Shakira, David and Romeo Beckham, Emma Watson, Cara Delevinge, Jon Bon Jovi and Orlando Bloom among others.. Alcaraz could not, however, fulfill the dream of seeing his idol Roger Federer in the stands, although he was very close (he was honored on center court the same day that the Spaniard debuted on court number one).

With the initial 15/15 and with the first “break” ball available to the Spaniard, the public's favor was clear, appeased for a large part of the first set, but redeemed when the Spaniard finally managed to break Djokovic's service and channel (temporarily) the second round in their favor.

The specter of Rafa Nadal, and his epic victory over Federer in 2008, also swarmed the hill of Carlitos, where the Asturian Miguel Olay (with the Sporting de Gijón shirt) and his son Ricardo were also there from very early on.. “For me, Alcaraz is more versatile than Rafa,” revealed Miguel. “He serves better and has many strong points, and he still has years ahead of him,” he commented.

“He is going to be one of the best tennis players in history,” his son Ricardo predicted meanwhile, who could not believe his luck in having seen him warm up early in the morning on one of the nearby courts and having been “two meters from from Alcaraz and one from Djokovic”.

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Father and son were doing an English course and the family with whom they spend these days advised them to get up early and queue to watch the game: “This is something that perhaps we will be able to count on in a few years. We can always say, 'We were there.

Alcaraz aroused passions not only among the public and among sports journalists, but also among society chroniclers such as Jane Fryer, who dedicated one of the most glowing praises to him in the local press: “Come on Carlitos! The new tennis titan is a ” total suprestar”.

“He is compared to Federer for his amazing footwork, Nadal for his ability to cover the court and Djokovic for his ability to focus,” Fryer writes.. “He was born a winner…. Did I mention he's an incredibly nice, down-to-earth guy with the best smile in the world?”

Adam Jones, professional tennis player and number 1,150 in the ranking, also had the opportunity to exchange warm-up shots with the two finalists. “The way I hit the ball is not very different from how they do it,” he acknowledged after the double experience.. “Although there are many other factors that make them very good.”

De Alcaraz highlights his explosive game and his variety of blows, Djokovic remains with his flexibility and his mental integrity that makes him overcome the low moments: “I have noticed that when he loses a ball on serve, he breathes deeply, and I assume that he visualizes that he can do better, he does exactly the serve he has planned and he doesn't stop until he gets it”.