“My parents did everything they could so that I could play” | Relief

London.- Alejandro Moro is stuck on Court 14 of the All England Tennis Tournament, watching Carlos Alcaraz practice. He looks at him with the curiosity of someone who is still learning, even though he is older than him. “He is an example in every sense, in his character on the court, in the way he conveys many of the values ​​of tennis, and in the courage and audacity that he shows on the court,” he explains to curious journalists who ask him about his feelings on the court in the early days of Wimbledon.

Moro is here because he won the qualifying round. He reached the final draw of a great tennis player for the first time, and this opens a new door in the castle of a tennis player’s career. Just before visiting Alcaraz, he left the tournament tent.

“Everything here is new, everything is incredible. They give us both Welcome pack players and the store received a cash gift card,” he explains. Since his chances of making it to the final table were unlikely, he came to the tournament with a small group. This means that the bonus the tournament gives him simply for making it to the final table will be a cascade of gifts for friends.I’d really like to bring them here, but that’s not possible, so at least I’ll bring you a little souvenir.“, Explain.

Winning the qualifiers is tough enough, but their journey is much longer than three victories on the courts of Roehampton. “I come from a small town called Torres de la Alameda. It’s in the south, not far from Alcalá de Henares. My mother has always been a housewife and my father was a carpenter.“There weren’t many tennis fans. It’s true that they were all athletes, but not at the level to do something professionally or take it very seriously,” he says two days before meeting Britain’s Feranli in the first round, who entered the draw with an invitation to the tournament.

Starting from this base, a humble family with no ties to tennis, it is commendable to see how she got here. “Well, like any kid who plays a lot of sports growing up, I was playing basketball at the time and my dad parked right in front of the tennis courts. I told him, “Hey, this sport has caught my attention a little bit, I want to do it.” and, well, he immediately signed me up the next month, and I started playing a little when I was nine years old,” he recalls.

Tennis has a certain reputation as an elite sport, although I know some of that has faded over time. In any case, going pro doesn’t come for free.”My parents started with a series of great sacrifices. They deprived themselves of enough things so that I could play. “They went a little to the limit, but, well, they bet on me from the first moment. I was also lucky that the school of Alcalá de Henares, where I started, bet on me in terms of the economic part, which we could not take on ourselves,” says Moro.

His coach from that academy, David Flores, is still by his side; he’s the one who grabs the bag with all the gifts he just bought at the store while he’s busy with the media and Alcaraz is finishing up training. The Sánchez-Casal Academy chose him and he spent three years with them. In fact, he is accompanied by a second coach, Boba Nikolenko, whom he met at the school of Emilio Sanchez-Vicario and Sergio Casal.

Moreau is 23 years old, so he will never be one of those dazzling promises that suddenly explode. This is not his way, the way he makes a living from this sport is to gradually increase the level, each week becoming a little better Alejandro Moro than the previous version.

“I think there are two types of players. Some of them go a little further, step by step, little by little. And then there are others who have a couple of good weeks in the year and they move up the rankings significantly. With that, they will last until the end of the year. I think I’m gradually becoming a player, gradually increasing my level.“I started doing professional lathes and futures and stuff like that four or five years ago. I’ve been working on the Challenger circuit for two years now and I’m taking small steps to try and get a foothold in it,” he explains.

The first question, logically, concerns the second round they might face at the tournament, since if they get past the first match, they will meet Djokovic, as expected, on the center court. He didn’t even know about it and didn’t ask about the financial reward that comes with getting here.”When I look at my checking account, I notice this. Then I don’t have much control over the points issue either, but it’s true that I think some rating increase could happen,” he says.

It’s true that Wimbledon is a step that you certainly can’t quite grasp right now, but just because you’re a little lost in the details doesn’t mean you’re not enjoying it. Rather the complete opposite. “It means the most to me to be here and play with these people.“Being able to see these coaches. Being able to see them up close and pick out these details to improve my game,” he says, looking around and coming across the heart of the facilities.

Wimbledon is also where he saw his greatest examples reign. “Personally, I always give extra support to Novak and Roger. And the fact that they made history by winning so many matches and so many tournaments here has always motivated me a little. And also for playing on grass, which is very important, especially for me, since I came here having practically not spent a single minute on grass.“, check.

This is not an exaggeration. He played in a tournament in Mallorca at the end and couldn’t practice, so he only played an hour. Last week he joined another team, played two games, but one of them was indoors, on a hard court. In short, he hasn’t been on grass much in his life, but it seems enough to win three games in a row and get to the final draw.

Now he will have to adapt to the main conditions of the tournament, which are somewhat different from the conditions of the qualifying stage. “Everyone told me it was something else. I don’t know if that’s true. Tomorrow you can say: I don’t know, maybe it’s higher or wetter there, or I don’t know. I managed to adapt well and we will see the same here,” reflects Moreau.

The Madrid international will at least leave London with some serious lessons that will also serve him well when playing on other surfaces. “I have some of the Spanish drive, playing from behind and a lot of hitting, I have some personality, but it’s true that I think as I grow as a player I’ll throw a little more with my serve and I’m learning . Grass also teaches you a little about how to score higher in the bracket. and there is more to it than Spanish tennis. “I think it helps me improve my tennis a lot and realize the little things that I also need to improve to move forward in these tournaments,” he explains.

Alejandro Moro is one of those players who want to reach the top on the periphery of tennis. That is why, when he lists his examples, he especially mentions Roberto Bautista. He is also one of those players who gradually climbed the rankings, those who got to the top without the opportunity to get to the table as a teenager and stay there forever.

“I always followed him a lot, I really liked the way he played, I felt identified with him and even last year at the Challenger in Valencia I even had the opportunity to play against him.” It was an incredible moment, for me it was a before and after even in my career and in my life.– he says with a smile on his lips.

The smile is caused by his surroundings, by the life he has suddenly begun to lead because he has just been told that perhaps, if things go very well, Djokovic will soon be waiting in the box. Suddenly, all those days of sacrifice may not have reached their goal, but they certainly reached an important halfway point. He’s at Wimbledon and no one is going to take that away from him.