In the afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium, after a four-hour game, Ferrero could finally relax his tense nerves a little. The black stubble had left the marks of age on his somewhat thin cheeks, but those dark brown eyes were still breathtaking, as if absorbing the bright sunlight of the Mediterranean Sea. Looking at the beloved disciple on the field, the pupils swirling in the eye sockets were slightly trance-like, and everything seemed to go back to 21 years ago.
That year, at the age of 20, he fought in 4 sets, and in the decisive set, he defeated a young man with long hair and a beautiful face, his name was Roger Federer. At this moment, also at Flushing, the same 3rd round, Alcaraz, his proud protégé, fought in five sets to finally pick out Tsitsipas, the No. 3 seed often referred to as "Federer Jr."
This coincidence is not purely a coincidence of fate. In Alcaraz, it is not difficult to find a little shadow of Ferrero, the master and compatriot predecessor. Facing Tsitsipas, who narrowly defeated Djokovic in the final at Roland Garros, the 18-year-old not only showed the momentum of a newborn calf, but also showed a calm and offensive consciousness beyond his age.
The active line change in the counter-shooting, the sharp attack of the bottom line forehand, and the light pace of the vertical and horizontal balance... Indeed, this Spanish teenager is quite a "mosquito" true legend.
"There are no words to describe how I feel at the moment, I am so excited that I don't know what just happened on the field. Unbelievably, I actually defeated Tsitsipas in an epic duel, which for me meant a dream come true. ”
Alcaraz, who enjoyed his moments of triumph, would not have known that his dream of autumn in New York had not yet come to an end. In the 4th round, after another five-set battle, after defeating qualifier Goyovtsk, he wrote his name into the quarterfinals.
At 18 years and 4 months, this age of infinite beauty and reverie made him the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since the Open era. Looking at all the Grand Slams, the only one who reached the quarterfinals at a younger age than him was Zhang Depei of Roland Garros in 1990.
Perhaps because of the fatigue of two consecutive five-set matches, the quarter-final battle against Aliassim, the expected youth storm did not blow for too long, and Alcaraz withdrew due to discomfort before the second set. Although it failed to go further, it was soon after reaching adulthood that it was finalised in the quarter-finals of the inaugural US Open, an achievement that is expected in today's tennis world under the long-term rule of the Big Three.
At the turn of the century, who can succeed Sampras as the new ruler of men's tennis has always been a hot topic of discussion. The Australian Hare, the Houston Cannon, the Russian Tsar, including the "King of Spain" Ferrero, who is sitting on the coaching bench, are all candidates who may come to mind first.
However, they all ended up making footnotes for Federer alone, until the teenager from Mallorca came out of Roland Garros to end the monopoly. Will Alcaraz, a young hero of the glory, become the new hope of the Spanish men's tennis team with broken talents?