Martín Landaluce, the imprint of 2006 in Miami

On January 8, just two and a half months ago, Martín Landaluce celebrated his coming of age.

With an unmistakable physique, this big man from Madrid with a Nordic style had been offering good clues beyond the bell two years ago in New York, when he won the US Open as a junior, at the age of 16, and stood out in the eyes of the fans.

“I started playing tournaments when I was 10 and doing fairly well.

And here I am,” he simplified that afternoon, aware that immersion in the elite was going to present him with a succession of curves that little by little he is learning to trace.

The logic of growth.

News then, his name is ringing again now with a meritorious victory in Miami - 6-3, 1-6 and 7-5 over Jaume Munar, in 2h 31m - which makes him the first tennis player in 2006 to achieve a victory in a Masters 1000, and which at the same time guides him towards an attractive duel in the second round with the current jewel of American tennis, the puncher Ben Shelton.

“I'm in my last year of school and this week is exams.

With the time difference, I have to do them at 7:30 or 8:30.

They are an hour and a half.

And then, in the afternoon, you have to try to make time for a class or whatever you can...", explains in a statement collected by the ATP the Spanish tennis player, invited by the tournament organization and who these days carries the racket player and also with obligation, since the adventure of tennis adds academic commitment.

“Until now I have had two, Economics and English,” he details happily, having taken one more step in this process that offers so many demands and so many twists;

like the match against Munar, translated into an up and down in which the Madrid native has gone through all the stadiums.

He twice breaks the rival in the third, but gets up: “It has been a tough battle with myself.

At times I have felt very nervous, out of my body, as if I were a ghost.

But I believe in myself a lot.

The visit to the bathroom has given me inner peace.”

More information

Alcaraz and the mobile phone, the happy mobile phone

That good mental foundation acquired since the age of 13 helps him, the age at which he began working with his psychologist.

Also the support of yours.

There are her parents, Elena and Alejandro, in the stands in Miami, and also his two brothers, Alejandra and Lucas, who have enjoyed university tennis in the United States.

“They give me a lot of peace of mind.

“It was because of them,” continues Landaluce, a regular at the Chamartín Tennis Club and the Madrid Federation.

A boy with self-confidence who builds stone by stone, and who after a dazzling time on the junior circuit – 88% victories and number one – continues to discover the ins and outs of accessing the professional stage, always complex.

So far he has played four games and it was in this last one that he found his reward.

Before him he collided with the power of Tommy Paul in Gijón, the experience of Richard Gasquet in Madrid and the long journey of Taro Daniel in Umag.

A very special moment 🥹✅

At 18 years old, 🇪🇸 Martin Landaluce took the compatriots' duel against Munar 6-3 1-6 7-5 to add his first ATP Tour victory #MiamiOpen |

@MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/H0q3ZRDeLa

— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) March 22, 2024

"I talk to myself out loud, I say to myself: 'I trust you, I know you're going to do it, I know you're brave, we're going to win this game.'

And in the end, day after day telling yourself this, you generate a

very, very strong body language

.

And it has paid off,” reasons

Tintin

, a giant of 1.91, with blonde curls and eyebrows, and an offensive display that gains more brilliance on the fast track.

He says he likes Alexander Zverev and, like the German, he makes a difference based on size, aggressiveness and acceleration.

Represented by IMG - his career is managed by Albert Molina, Carlos Alcaraz's agent - and with a scholarship from Nadal's academy in Manacor, he moved there at the end of 2022 to exercise daily with his coach, the Galician Óscar Burrieza, and thus try to his tennis opens up space in the

top-100

of the ATP.

Now he is close to breaking the barrier of the best 300, but above all it is necessary to evolve and to do so he takes note of references such as the Spaniard (37 years old) or one much closer, Alcaraz (20).

“They deal with internal battles very well, they don't seem to be nervous.

So little by little I try to be like that, to give a feeling of calm and confidence on the outside, and on the inside to make those nervous moments pass faster and faster.

The only thing left to do is try to imitate them a little bit,” the young Landaluce tells the ATP, who is determined in front of journalists and who in recent times has been emitting hopeful signals both in the territory of the ITF and in that of the

challengers

.

He now faces a bigger test, the left-handed Shelton.

A 21-year-old gun who last year reached the quarterfinals in Australia and the semifinals of the US Open, and is already seventeenth in the world;

the best current exponent of North American tennis: “I will try to learn as much as I can from this match.”

THE RAIN DISTURBS THE COMPETITION

A.C.

In addition to Landaluce's victory, the last day also saw the progress of Roberto Bautista, who is still trying to find himself again after a few difficult months due to physical problems.

The Castellón native, 35 years old and now 100th, won 6-3 and 7-6(4) against the American Emilio Nava and will face Sebastian Korda on Saturday.

On the other hand, Roberto Carballés also prospered, superior to Alexander Vukic: 7-6(2) and 6-3.

The Granada native will be the rival, therefore, of Carlos Alcaraz, who landed in the tournament as the recent winner of Indian Wells.

The fight between the two (not before 00:00, Movistar+) is part of the following program.

Before, the rain made an appearance and disrupted the organization's plans.

The water fell early in the day in Miami and interrupted the course of the competition.

Paula Badosa had to meet her friend Aryna Sabalenka, but the dispute of the match—and the subsequent ones, which also included Alejandro Davidovich from Malaga, against Juncheng Shang—was left up in the air.

The Catalan, 26 years old and 80th on the list, tries to prolong the good feelings obtained two days before against Simona Halep - the former number one reappeared after a year away from the circuit due to a doping episode, finally rectified - in a crash involving some sad circumstances, given that only three days ago the death of the Belarusian woman's ex-partner, Konstantin Koltsov, was known.

The former ice hockey player was 42 years old.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on

Facebook

and

X

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_