Sinner, this was indeed a life lesson, moreover at no cost: what happened left us stunned.
On social media, they dubbed it The Evil. Sympathetically, that is, since he is the No. 1 opponent of our beloved Jannik Sinner. The truth, however, is that it is impossible to resent Carlos Alcaraz. To resent him for brutally breaking the blue champion’s unbeaten streak, which he hadn’t lost in as many as 19 matches.
He may have taken away his chance to win the Indian Wells Masters 1000, yet the Murcia phenom continues to endear himself to us. This is because after a false start, an initial moment in which he had seemed full of himself and far too “gassed,” Carlitos has corrected his pitch by laying bare his genuine simplicity. A simplicity that makes him incredibly similar to his friend and rival from San Candido, with whom he shares not only talent but also the same vision of sport and, more generally, of life.
And that is precisely why there is a feeling between the two champions of the new generation that we would not hesitate to call crazy. A unique, spontaneous, sincere bond that tells us so much about their way of being and living tennis. A bond that on Saturday returned to us, once again, emotions that we should treasure with great jealousy.
Sinner and Alcaraz, when the magic of sport goes beyond everything
There was a lot of content circulated on social media in the aftermath of the semifinal day. In the meantime, the video that portrayed them a moment before entering the court, at the entrance of the tunnel that would then lead them to the arena where they would, shortly thereafter, put on a show.
look at them here the twins indianwells sinner pic.twitter.com/K9pXwr0eR3
– ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀᴡᴀʟʟ (@causeafterall) March 16, 2024
The tennis players often find themselves, before the competitions begin, next to each other, but focused as they are they tend to ignore each other. Alcaraz and Sinner, on the other hand, were laughing it off between warm-up jabs, waiting for the announcer to shout out their respective names and invite them onto the court. And that, in itself, was a fine display of friendship. Carlos, however, later did even better than that.
carlos was waiting for jan to get ready to leave the court together istg indianwells pic. twitter.com/caXizWrHkm
– ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀᴡᴀʟʟ (@causeafterall) March 16, 2024
The semifinal, as known, was suddenly interrupted due to rain and the two players were asked to leave the court and return to the locker room. The Iberian was ready to leave the scene but waited until his blue friend was, who took a little longer to gather his things, so they could walk together and talk and giggle some more. A friendship beautiful to “see” and to feel, then, that filled the eyes of the spectators, often accustomed to unorthodox behavior and competition that has nothing at all healthy about it, with wonder and amazement.
