If you watched Carlos Alcaraz for a long time in his debut on Sunday at the Australian Open against Adam Walton, differences could be appreciated. When Juan Carlos Ferrero was in his box, the number one had a non-verbal dialogue with him during breaks that was very easy to summarize: "Concentration, concentration, and concentration." Sitting on his bench, Alcaraz would look at his then-coach and nod, as if he knew from meters away what Ferrero was telling him.
This Sunday, however, the gestural exchange with his new coach, Samu López, was much more cryptic. Between points, during breaks, Alcaraz would go to his seat, look at his coach, and make some facial expressions impossible to interpret from the outside. On a couple of occasions, he even let out a laugh, as if he had just done something they had previously discussed. Who knows what it was.
Anyway, Alcaraz opened his new era with a victory against Walton by 6-3, 7-6(2), and 6-2, and is already in the second round of the Grand Slam, where he will face German Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday.
It was a somewhat irregular debut, with a lapse in the second set that cost him a break, but a triumph nonetheless. Alcaraz still doesn't know what it's like to lose in the first round of a 'major' tournament, despite having played 20. Not bad. In fact, the success served as a small vindication: his current coach, López, deserves more credit, and so does the decision to have bet on him.
"Every coach is different, but right now Samu can provide me with everything I need. Obviously, if you have a former top player by your side, who has been in many situations, they can help you. But Samu is currently one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best. They have tried to put me alongside many former tennis players, and I don't think it's fair. Samu deserves more recognition, he provides me with things that no former player can provide me," commented the world number one, who admitted that his first match had not been exactly as he expected.
"I was surprised by Adam's level, and I had ups and downs. In the second set, maybe I lost focus a bit and paid for it. But in the end, it was a match with a lot of rhythm, very demanding to start, and I prefer it to be that way," Alcaraz said. According to his own words, it is very difficult to come back after a two-month break and control the mind as if he had played the day before yesterday. "What I struggle with the most are the nerves," he admitted.
The Spaniard had just had a good time in Miami and in the Turks and Caicos Islands, enjoying Christmas at his home in Murcia, even enjoying the promotional activities before the Grand Slam in Melbourne, and had to pick up the racket with all his might again. Some complaints in the second set about Walton's remarkable level showed that he was in a bit of trouble, but in the end, he resolved it as he should. Perhaps he will rest on Tuesday and find some time to play golf, but on Monday, he will train again under the orders of Samu López, and they will talk about things that only they know. Who knows what it was.