This Saturday, Carlos Alcaraz will be awakened by a prayer. "We have overcome, we have overcome. By the blood of the lamb and by the word of the Lord. We have overcome," the Fijian athletes will sing in unison and a cappella, as if they were a gospel choir, and the tennis player, who sleeps in an adjacent room, will have no choice but to get out of bed.
This Saturday, Carlos Alcaraz will have breakfast in his room at the Villa. In the early days, along with Rafa Nadal, he would go down to the communal dining room, but there was such a commotion that he was late for training, and finally, the Spanish team captain, David Ferrer, asked him to eat in his room.
This Saturday, Carlos Alcaraz will not be able to stroll with his team. He will go to the training courts at Roland Garros, practice for about 45 minutes with Ferrer as a sparring partner - "to not forget about tennis" - and return to the Villa to take a nap.
This Saturday, Carlos Alcaraz will not be able to follow any of the routines he usually does before a final, a big day, but it doesn't matter. As he did in the last Wimbledon, this Sunday (around 2:00 PM, La 1) he will stand before history in the final of the Paris Olympic Games and will face Novak Djokovic for the gold, who on Friday defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2. "Everything is different from what I am used to. The rest, the food, the schedules... dealing with that here is not so simple, but everything is solved with enthusiasm. Obviously, the Games are not like a tournament on the circuit, we already know that. Sharing moments with other athletes, feeling that mutual respect, and watching them compete in their disciplines is something special, and I am enjoying it," said Alcaraz, who has always wanted to stay in the Villa.
Alone in the room, not in a hotel
The lack of air conditioning, the noise, the discomfort of the beds, or the heaviness of the travel led several athletes, like swimmer Hugo González, to request a room in a hotel from the Spanish Olympic Committee, but Alcaraz has not done so. With a portable air conditioner from those around the Villa and without having to share a room with anyone since Pablo Carreño left, he is comfortable enough, calm, and supported. In the same area, Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa, the doubles pair who will seek bronze tomorrow, sleep; David Ferrer; the captain of the Spanish women's team, Anabel Medina; and the doctor of the Spanish Federation, Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro.
"I have experienced intense days, with the singles, with the doubles, many emotions, some difficult moments, but now I am feeling better physically. I cannot deny that a few days ago there was a physical drop and I found it hard to enjoy the moment. But I had to do what I had to do, and now I have a very good moment ahead," commented the player who on Friday, in his first Olympic semifinals against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, already seemed recovered, extremely accurate, and electric.
His victory by 6-1 and 6-1 in just an hour and 15 minutes was another demonstration of his superiority over the rest. Very aggressive with his serve, as in the last Grand Slam, Alcaraz displayed more shots than ever during the week, did so more accurately, and, most extraordinarily, was fast, very fast. "I played a match at a very, very good level," admitted the player, who also acknowledged that his opponent was exhausted. The day before, Aliassime had played a singles match and a mixed doubles match, and his opposition was indeed non-existent. But, without that condition, Alcaraz had already defeated him resoundingly in their last four encounters. This Saturday will not be a normal day for the Spanish player, but this Sunday, once again, like so many others, he will seek glory, history, legend.