Carlos Alcaraz, from top to bottom and from bottom to top

“

”.

At lunchtime, hunger strikes, the wind blows and the water falls on Barcelona in the form of a fine drizzle that triggers the umbrellas of the far-sighted fan, who before leaving home has looked at the weather forecast and the sky, each time grayer and more closed, and has discovered that, suddenly, autumn has temporarily settled in the city.

Umbrellas, coats and raincoats abound, people come and go through the main artery of the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona (RCTB) and the candy of the tournament is waiting, there is impatience.

But finally it arrives.

At about five in the afternoon, Carlos Alcaraz bursts into the central Godó.

Then a roller coaster begins.

From top to bottom and from bottom to top: 6-1, 2-6 and 6-2, in 1h 33m.

The 18-year-old from Murcia, the new

of world tennis, responds to the expectation with a storming start, ready to show that what happened last week in Monte Carlo (fall in the first round) was simply an accidental matter, which has learned the lesson and that these days are the right ones to get back on track.

So he comes out like a shot, he overwhelms Sonwoo Kwon for half an hour, which it takes to air the first set, and continues to squeeze the South Korean (24 years old, 71st) at the beginning of the second (2-0).

That is to say, everything that the stands more or less expected and, above all, wanted.

Absent Rafael Nadal, he is the engine of this edition.

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'Alcarazmania' in the Godó

From one of the corners of the court, Tommy Robredo, already a former tennis player, retired two days ago, watches;

Now he practices with Alexia, his one-year-old girl, whose crying can be heard between balls and balls until her father and mother swing her and only the crunch of the ball is heard again every time Alcaraz hits one of his own

, with that characteristic sound, like an ax blow opening its way towards the heart of the trunk.

The president of FC Barcelona, ​​Joan Laporta, who these days lacks hands to reach every mess, from the Germans to Piqué, passing through his team, contemplates it live.

"We will fight to be as high as possible," he says before the game in a canutazo in the

.

Alcaraz is also involved in this, who like the day, suddenly, the light goes out, loses color –suffering with the seconds– and the leads melt.

Suddenly, he becomes entangled, disorderly and opens the door to Kwon, who until then seemed

and in the blink of an eye he becomes a wall that never fails.

He returns them all, and the Spaniard – eleventh in the ATP, two titles this year – twists his face, gets frustrated, shrugs his arms as if to say to himself: What the hell is going on, Carlos?

But everything remains in a fright.

When not a few of those present have felt a knot in their stomachs at the possibility of losing him at the premiere, the reaction arrives, dull but efficient.

The boy from El Palmar corrects and the South Korean – only six wins on clay so far – returns to the original place of the match.

This is how the story ends, with the occasional cold sweat.

This is how Alcaraz catches the first victory of his career in Barcelona, ​​where screams are heard when the Murcian leaves the track: "It's crazy what moves this kid", is heard while signing autographs and the key to the painting pairs him this Thursday with Jaume Munar.

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