In light of today's match...
What a match! Definitely an emotional rollercoaster for Carlitos, Nole and all of us that watched it. This is long, so scroll along if you don't have the patience.
Having grown up watching Roger, Rafa and Novak dominate the tennis scene, it has been refreshing to watch Carlos Alcaraz climb the ladder so fast! This man has captivated most of us, if not all, and each of his matches have brought me the same joy I felt when I first watched him play.
Brilliantly defending his Wimbledon title and playing in the Olympics just less than 15 days after, I cannot imagine the physical effort required to play back to back doubles and singles matches, even for a professional athlete. But he has been at the top of his game.
Today is Novak's moment, no doubt. What he has done for his country and achieved for it today is truly commendable. His celebration was all it took for me to break down as well and realise that this has been the one thing he has wanted for so long.
But, what Carlos has achieved is something most would only dream of; a silver medalist in his first Olympics. Not only is he an amazing player but also a good person. His sportsmanship shone through today, when he let Nole have that first serve again and when, despite all the pressure and frustration, he did not allow himself to lose control and get aggressive.
Not much older than I, he showed such maturity. My respect, admiration and love for this man have increased tenfold today. Seeing him have tears in his eyes, brought tears to mine and this is definitely not the outcome us Carlos fans hoped for.
It has been quite a week, what with Andy Murray retiring and Carlos missing out on the gold. But we know there's more to come.
On the off chance that Carlos does somehow stumble upon tennisblr and comes across this post -
Carlitos, estamos todos muy orgullosos de ti. Siempre habrá una próxima oportunidad y sabemos que volverás más fuerte. Te mando mucho amor.
(I used google translate so idk how good this is)
