Australian Open – eighths –
A few hits serve as a thermometer. All hands on deck, combusting from the first exchange, the drive by Carlos Alcaraz transforms into a tornado. “Has the shark look“, says one of the journalists in the gallery who follows the Murcian's steps. The day before, training had already hinted at where the shots could go, because when that right hand gets hot there is no one to stop it and his brother Alvarito, a punching bag, had his arm bending in the face of more than one attack. Impossible to replicate. Miomir Kecmanovic tries it on this cold Monday in Melbourne, where summer has gone elsewhere and cardigans abound in the middle of the afternoon, the lady jumps around to avoid freezing, the man rubs his limbs and smells like fried chicken in the stands. Some will leave with a bad cold, but, he will think, perhaps it was worth it: the number two tennis provides warmth to the bodies. 6-4, 6-4 and 6-0, in 1h 49m. People are having fun and Alcaraz, who competes but also plays for the gallery, impossible to stop that instinct, is already heading into the quarterfinals. In this he will meet on Wednesday the German Alexander Zverev, superior to Cameron Norrie (7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 and 7-6(3), in 4h 05m). And he will loose it.
To each stroke of the Spaniard's shot the public reacts with murmurs and giggles, with disbelief, thinking that they have surely never seen – and look, tennis has been and is seen in Australia – such a high ball speed, so beastly, so overwhelming. Del Potro maybe? The Chilean Fernando González? The one about that Nick Kyrgios who impressed when he felt like it and printed that acceleration? Maybe, maybe. There will be the topic. But Alcaraz moves in that league of vertigo, for whom Carlitos, on the court at least, has already fallen very short. Carlos, with all the letters. Age is one thing; the facts, another. He shakes the ball mercilessly, punishing, enjoying, applying all the mechanics: biceps and deltoids inflamed, he squeezes the handle and a bodybuilder's vein about to burst is drawn from top to bottom. He needs it, because in front of him he has a good wall. Kecmanovic, a tough guy, sells defeat dearly and doesn't crack. He is not the Serbian (24 years old, 60th in the world) easy prey and demands good work, as well as a lot of art. Alcaraz celebrates the points with rage, clenching his fist hard. There is hunger there, very hungry.
Very plugged in, he combines the whipping with those touches that are so delicate, so precise, so perfect; from the blow of the ax to the caress in a second. So, those present wonder what the hell will happen next, what that player will be like, how far they will go (once Novak Djokovic is out of the way, of course) so much talent, so much creativity and that kind of everything that is being built: physicality, technique, imagination. Because it is not what is today, but what can be tomorrow. But the story invites us to fantasize, of course. For now, in any case, Australia. Which is not little. Remember: only Nadal has trodden the summit of the great Australian, of the distant antipodes, that paradise forbidden to the Spanish until 2009. So a gigantic world ahead. Leaden feet, but extraordinary sensations in this last staging that closes in the form of a warning. Like great players, Alcaraz at 20 years old has the great virtue of knowing how to change gears when the game demands it. timing of the tournaments.
![The Spaniard returns the ball during this Monday's game.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/xJI6cx34KOPaaat0L_QsMnUDreo=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/VRY57AZQZCWD25EW64Q746IF7Q.jpg)
![Alcaraz celebrates victory after winning the match against Kecmanovic, at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/CpgfmBi3BF8OqG2qSAIzYPTnq08=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/Z72LL4FUDZAXVNQHH4KVY7FXYA.jpg)
![Alcaraz shakes hands with Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, after winning the match.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/2xAPKb2Z5hcrzXALe9Is10VTsZA=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/5QQ2CER2QJAIJHKILIJNAMNMBM.jpg)
After dismounting Gasquet and Sonego at an intermediate pace, and putting one more gear in the 66 minutes he fought against Shang, he fires up his performance and enjoys himself, playing around, drawing balloons and, above all, breathing fire; There are 43 winning shots, compared to 14 for the rival, who works from another specialty; With 17 unforced errors he closes the Balkan, only two in the first set. The concrete finally gives way. Having passed the logical adaptation phase to the tournament and better knowing the proportions and feel of a court that until now was strange to him, Alcaraz expresses himself against Kecmanovic and advances.
“Everything has worked, I think. I have done almost everything perfect. In Miami 2022 [único precedente, a su favor] The match was very tight, at a very high level. And I think today was also a very good one. I have pushed him to the limit on every ball, on every point. In each ball I have moved him from side to side”, describes the one from El Palmar, who, he says, the night before was faithful to tradition and had sushi for dinner. “I love it, and it's the right thing to do,” he says before winking to the stands: “I feel better and better every day, every game I play at the Rod Laver. It is a pleasure to play here, on this beautiful court. The people in Australia are great and I am happy to play in front of all of you, I feel at home. I think if I play at this level against Zverev I will have my chances. For the fans it is a great meeting. I'll put on my best tennis, and see what happens… “, he says goodbye while in the stands of the center sneezes can be heard and quite a few sniffle, gripped by the damp cold that penetrates into the bones. Surely, for many, the cold was worth it.
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