London.- Alejandro Moro is stuck on court 14 of the All England Tennis, watching how Carlos Alcaraz trains. 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 how he transmits many values of tennis and in that courage and audacity that he has on the court,” he explains to the curious journalists who ask him about his feelings on the court. the early days of Wimbledon.
Moro is there because he has won the qualifying phase. He has entered the final draw of a major for the first time, and that opens a new door in the castle that is a tennis player’s career. Just before seeing Alcaraz he arrived from the tournament tent.
“Everything is new here, everything is incredible. They give us like a welcome pack “The players were given a gift card and it came with a cash gift card from the shop,” he explains. Since it was not very likely that he would be in the final draw, he arrives at the tournament with few people in tow. And that means that the bonus that the tournament gives him for simply making it to the final draw is going to turn into a flood of gifts for his friends. “I would love to be able to bring them here, but it is not possible, so at least I bring them a little souvenir.“, Explain.
Winning the qualifying phase is complex in itself, but their path is much longer than winning three matches on the courts of Roehampton. “I’m from a small town, Torres de la Alameda. It’s in the south, near Alcala de Henares. My mother has always been a housekeeper and my father a carpenter.. There hasn’t been a lot of tennis fans. It is true that they have all been athletes, but not at the level of having done anything professional or of having taken that very seriously,” he says, two days before facing the British Feranley in the first round, who entered the draw with an invitation of the tournament.
Starting from that base, a humble family unrelated to tennis, it is commendable to see how it has gotten here. “Well, like any child who is enrolled in a lot of sports as a child, I was in basketball at the time and my father parked right in front of the tennis courts. I told him, ‘Hey, that sport interests me a bit, I want to try it.’ and, well, he immediately signed up for me the following month and I started playing a little when I was nine years old,” he recalls.
Tennis has a certain reputation for elitism, although this has become less so over time. In any case, becoming a professional does not 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 from the first moment. I was also lucky that at the Alcalá de Henares school, where I started, they bet on me in terms of the economic part, which we could not assume,” says Moro.
His coach from that academy, David Flores, is still by his side; he is the one who takes the bag with all the gifts he just bought in the store while he attends to journalists and Alcaraz finishes training. The Sánchez-Casal academy took a chance on him and he spent three years with them. In fact, a second coach travels with him, Boba Nikolenko, whom he met at the Emilio Sánchez-Vicario and Sergio Casal school.
Moro is 23 years old, so he will never be one of those dazzling prospects who suddenly explode. That is not his path, the way he makes a living from this sport is to gradually raise the level, to be a slightly better Alejandro Moro every week than the previous version.
“I think there are two types of players. Some who go a little more step by step, little by little. And then there are others who have a couple of good weeks in the year, they rise a lot in the ranking. And then with that they go holding on for the rest of the year. I think I’m a player who is gradually improving, gradually increasing my level.. Four or five years ago I started playing professional lathes, Futures and such. I have been established in the Challenger circuit for two years now and little by little I am taking these little steps of trying to be solid in this,” he explains.
The first question is, of course, about the second round he could face in the tournament, because if he gets through the first match he will meet Djokovic, probably on Centre Court. He didn’t even know that, and he didn’t ask about the prize money that comes with getting this far.When I look at the checking account I will notice it. I don’t really have much control over the points issue either, but I do imagine that I can get some rise in the ranking,” he says.
It is true that Wimbledon is a step that, surely, right now you are not yet able to metabolize, but just because you are a little lost with the details does not mean that you are not enjoying it. Rather the complete opposite. “What means the most to me is the experience of being able to be here and play with these kinds of people.“Being able to see these coaches. Being able to see them up close and pick out those details to improve my game as well,” he says, as he looks around and stumbles upon the heart of the facility.
Wimbledon is also the place where he saw his greatest role models reign. “Personally, I always root for Novak and Roger a little more. And the fact that they have made so much history by winning so many matches here and so many tournaments, well, that has always motivated me a little bit. Also for playing on grass, which is super special, especially for me, who came here without having practically any minutes on grass.“, account.
This is not an exageration. He entered the Mallorca tournament at the end and couldn’t train, so he only played one hour. Last week he entered another draw, he played two games, but one of them was indoors, on a hard court. In short, in his life he has been on the grass very little, but it seems enough to win three games in a row and get into the final draw.
Now he has to adapt to the main facilities of the tournament, which are somewhat different than those of the qualifying phase. “Everyone has told me that it’s something different. I don’t know if it’s true. Tomorrow you can say, I don’t know, maybe it’s higher or wetter there or I don’t know. I have managed to adapt well, we will see here, hopefully, hopefully the same,” reflects Moro.
The man from Madrid, at the very least, will leave London with a series of solid lessons that will also be useful for his game on other surfaces. “I have the part of Spanish drive, that of playing from behind and playing a lot of shots, I have a bit of identity, but then it is true that I think that as I grow as a player I am shooting a little more with my serve and I am learning. Grass also teaches you a little to finish points higher on the net. and it’s something more different from what Spanish tennis is. I think it’s making me improve my tennis a lot and realise the little things I have to improve too to move up in these tournaments,” he explains.
Alejandro Moro is one of those players who wants to reach heights from the periphery of tennis. Therefore, when he cites the list of examples of him, he has a special memory for Roberto Bautista. He is also one of those players who gradually rose in the rankings, those who became among the best without the option of hitting the table in adolescence and staying there forever.
“I have always followed him a lot, I have really loved how he plays, I have felt identified with him and in fact last year at the Challenger in Valencia I even had the opportunity to play against him. It was an incredible moment, it was a before and after for me even in my career and in my life.“, he says with a smile on his lips.
The smile is because of the surroundings, because of the life he is suddenly leading, because he has just been told that maybe, if things go well, Djokovic will soon be waiting in the draw. Suddenly all those days of sacrifice have perhaps not reached the goal, but certainly at an important intermediate point. He is at Wimbledon and no one is going to take that away from him.
