MELBOURNE, Australia — Carlos Alcaraz will get tattoos to have fun Grand Slam titles, so he plans to get kangaroo ink if he wins the Australian Open to finish a streak of 4 main tennis occasions.
Alcaraz got here near changing into, at 21, the youngest man to win a Grand Slam title, narrowly successful the primary set at Melbourne Park this week with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), victory 6-2 over Thirty third-ranked Nuno Borges of Portugal on Friday within the third spherical.
He’s already marking his physique for the day of his first main title, which got here on the 2022 US Open; a strawberry to symbolize his second Wimbledon victory, in 2023; the Eiffel Tower to win final yr’s French Open. What would he select if he was the final man standing at Rod Laver Enviornment on Jan. 26?
“A kangaroo, that is for positive,” Alcaraz stated with an enormous smile Friday. “The factor I’ve (lacks) is to elevate the trophy right here, however the plan and the concept are already there.”
There was a little bit of a stretch towards Borges the place Alcaraz went from being in management to not with the ability to shoot down the courtroom.
It was stunning to see the rating go from 2-all to 6-2 in favor of Borges through the third set tiebreaker, thanks largely to unforced errors by Alcaraz, who already owns a complete of 4 main tournaments as properly. charted at quantity 3 in Australia.
Dangerous backhand. It is a unhealthy entrance. Dangerous service refund. After which, in Borges’ second place, Alcaraz missed one other entrance. That set was gone. Alcaraz’s willpower and effectivity returned immediately, and he was quickly again on his approach.
Early within the fourth set, Alcaraz earned a break level and set free his acquainted “Vamos!” – as positive an indication as any that it was him. He turned it right into a 2-0 lead with a surprising sequence: He raced ahead for a brief shot, then wanted to take care of a superbly curled lob, ran again to the baseline along with his again to the web and spun round. beat the earlier winner. Alcaraz’s momentum brought on his ft to offer out from beneath him, so he dropped his racket and put his palms on the ground to regular himself.
Realizing that he had gained the purpose, Alcaraz stood up and pointed to his proper ear, searching for much more reward from the followers, then raised his proper fist.
“I attempt to play completely different tennis, present various kinds of photographs,” stated Alcaraz, who will face No. 15 Jack Draper from Britain or Aleksandar Vukic from Australia. “That is what makes me … smile in courtroom.”
Alcaraz hasn’t been shy about his targets – in these two weeks or within the large image. Sure, he desires to win the Australian Open for the primary time (he misplaced within the quarterfinals final yr). And, sure, he could fear about getting again to No. 1 within the rankings and successful all types of tournaments, however actually, his eyes are on this: “Attempt to win as many Grand Slams as attainable. That’s my predominant objective.”
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