In the quarterfinals of the tennis tournament in Wimbledon, the two child prodigies Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune duel. Both are notorious for their emotions – which could not be more different.
It is always said that tennis is one of those sports in which the games are decided in the mind. The professionals on the pitch are correspondingly focused and celebrate every single point due to the tension in certain phases. It is then enormously noticeable when a player reacts very differently to his colleagues when he is about to achieve success that has never been seen before in his career.
A smile of anticipation
Ahead of his third match point against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, Carlos Alcaraz smiled in the face of the jubilation of Center Court at Wimbledon after winning the previous point. It seemed like the final step, the point that should end the match, wasn’t a burden at all, just something he was looking forward to. Apparently there were no doubts in Alcaraz at that moment, he was just overjoyed because he apparently already knew that in a few seconds he would reach the quarter-finals of the world’s largest grass tournament for the first time. And that’s how it happened.
Alcaraz’s game impresses with its enormous enthusiasm – during and in between the rallies. Even in the most important moments, he doesn’t lose the fun of his job on the tennis court. But the 20-year-old had to work it out again. When expectations of the child prodigy grew endless last year, “I lost my joy a little, I felt the pressure“, Alcaraz said about ten months ago. “I couldn’t laugh on the pitch, which is what I usually do in every match at every tournament.“
Alcaraz just wants to play
He had previously suffered painful defeats, then traveled to the US Open – found his smile and won his first Grand Slam-Competition. “I just came here to have fun and enjoy playing tennis. i love tennis When I smile I’m having fun out there, then I show my best level, my best tennis‘ Alcaraz said.
It’s the same at Wimbledon. The Spaniard won his first four games in a superior manner, only giving up two sets. Alcaraz had previously won a grass tournament in Queens for the first time in his career, and the world number one went into the English classic alongside Novak Djokovic as a big favorite. And at the latest after his victory against Berrettini, Alcaraz is only concerned with one thing: the Wimbledon triumph. “I’m hungry, I want more“, he said.
risk of explosion at Rune
His next opponent could say a similar sentence. Although one could expect a different sound, a more aggressive one. While Alcaraz approaches his goals with ease and joy, Holger Rune takes a different path. The young Dane is the volcano among tennis players, not only playfully, but also absolutely unpredictable in his behavior. Whereby: Not so unpredictable, because Rune regularly breaks out of himself.
There are many examples. And that often doesn’t go down well with the fans. At the tournaments in Madrid and Monte Carlo that year, Rune was booed for not controlling his emotions. If he doesn’t agree with something – be it a decision of the referee, his performance, the opponent’s style of play or whatever – it overcomes him. In October 2022, he was almost disqualified in Basel after a flickering LED screen annoyed him so much that he gave away a point and verbally attacked the referee.
The “red zone” as a concept for success
“Often it’s just frustration. It then boils over“Rune himself explained to the “Spiegel”. But it’s just part of his game, he also draws his strength from it “red zone”, as the 20-year-old says, is like an addiction. It is also the moment when he is fully focused. “Then I shift into another gear. Then the petrol in my tank changes. I need this energy to bring out a special punch” said Rune. “If I didn’t have this mixture in my blood, I wouldn’t be able to survive in these situations.“
Because he succeeds, he has already made it to sixth place in the ATP world rankings. Should he defeat Alcaraz, it goes even higher. The two are the youngest players in the top 50, and it is precisely this youthful fire – as different as it is in the two – ensures that this duel could become a tennis festival of emotions. The question is whether the smiling child prodigy or the explosive child prodigy gets to cheer in the end.