Once training is over, four security personnel as wide as a door draw a corridor and surround the exit of Carlos Alcaraz, claimed by the fans of the Inalpi Arena in Turin: despite the crowd that descends on him, the tennis player manages to arrive safe and sound and his trail is lost as he approaches the access door to the changing rooms. A few meters away, the player with whom Murcian trained tells his story, that of another of the many dreamers who aspire to one day join the elite or earn a living with their sport. Still drenched in sweat, the result of the effort needed to keep up with the number one, Pedro Vives expresses himself.
“I’m lucky enough to be only two years older than Carlos, so we already knew each other from the youth team. I’ve been here since day one, I play sparring for the ATP, and I had the opportunity to warm up and train with him. For me it’s a pleasure, because I’m here to help tennis players”, presents this young man of 24 years old, born in Mallorca, who shared the ranks with the number one – scheduled this Tuesday with Taylor Fritz, at 2pm (Movistar+) – in the junior and youth team of the Reial Club de Tennis Barcelona 1899. Subsequently, he continues, he continued his training at Rafael Nadal’s academy and then moved to Texas Christian University (TCU).
There, in a line that is becoming increasingly stronger, he turned to the university system as a way of access to the elite and today, having settled in 463rd place in the ranking classificationenjoy the experience with the teachers. “After covid I went to the United States, this year I finished and now I will dedicate myself to playing professionally, to see how things go. I will get to where I need to get to,” he says. At home he argued numerous times with Nadal and now exchanges balls with Alcaraz, who as a child, he points out, “we could already see that he had things that other kids of his age didn’t have, that he was very advanced and that he had enormous potential”. They were measured only once. He laughs when he replies: “He won…”.
Now, after graduating in Economics, he has returned to his homeland and takes advantage of opportunities like this by combining them with competition on the ITF circuit (the prelude to professionalism). At the age of 16 he obtained his first point in the ATP and hoping to carve out a place for himself, he absorbed these days of the best and helped them grow. “They are two very different guys. When he trains, Rafa can only do 100 or 200 physically and mentally, while Carlos, being very serious, takes more time. One has already done everything he had to do and is the best athlete in the history of Spain, and the other I suppose aims to get as far as possible. I hope that injuries spare Carlos”, continues Vives.
THE through sparring It was also the one used by Alejandro García Cenzano of Madrid, who responds from Austin (Texas) airport. He explains that today he is the coach of the Canadian Marina Stakusic, because her last wish was to sit on the benches, and that previously he contributed for several years to the shooting of characters such as Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Garbiñe Muguruza or Paula Badosa. In his case, he first received a proposal from the Madrid tournament and his role pleased the organizers and players; So much so that, from that moment on, his phone began to ring and after making himself known in various circles, he signed private contracts with several players.
“They ask you specific things,” he says. “That certain shots that the opponent will launch during the match are reproduced: sliced backhands, flat shots…”, he specifies. Most of his income came not from tournaments, “because very few pay”, but from direct connections with tennis players. He, specifically, has tried with a maximum of ten number ones – he mentions, among others, Ashleigh Barty, Victoria Azarenkza and Simona Halep – and remembers with particular affection the sessions that led Muguruza to the masters title in 2021. He doesn’t even forget the days with Alcaraz at Indian Wells 2022 or those shared with Nadal and Garbiñe in Cincinnati, 2018, shortly before they both ascended the throne.
Some sparring They end up reaching the specialist category and in addition to being nourished by the game of professionals, they absorb the knowledge of their coaches. García Cenzano, from , mentions Conchita Martínez (Muguruza, Pliskova or Andreeva) and Wim Fissette (Klijsters, Osaka or Swiatek), and now he is the one to pass on his knowledge; Players such as Veronica Cepede, Tamara Zidansek, Liv Hovde (junior Wimbledon champion) and Olga Danilovic have followed his criteria. “In my case it was an intermediate stage, because I wanted to become a WTA coach, but the journey was worth it, without a doubt”, concludes the Madrid native.
This was confirmed during the speech of Vives, called up this week by Alcaraz for the warm-up of the first day, against Alex de Miñaur, and also in view of the second match of the group stage, against the American Fritz. What stands out is the Murcian’s “silliness and ease” and his ability to “generate force when he strikes, even if he doesn’t seem to be making much effort.” He comments that Nadal and Alcaraz are radically different; that the former is, from his point of view, “the best Spanish athlete” he has ever seen; and, cautious, he doesn’t dare venture to venture how far his one-time colleague will go on the RCTB slopes: “Let’s hope his injuries are respected. Then we’ll see.”
