It was the summer of 2013 and a plane from Alicante landed in the Italian town of Trieste. Carlos Alcaraz he was a little scared when he touched the earth ship. It is not for less. Almost ten years old, the young tennis player flew for the first time and went to Pula (Croatia) to play a tennis tournament. This is the Benjamin world championship, the so-called Smrikva Bowlwhere he will reach the final with the Postres Reina insignia on his chest, the patron of the Murcian’s first venture outside the borders of Spain.
The story begins a few weeks earlier Carlos Alcaraz (father), knowing that his son could become a tennis diamond, began to calculate how much it would cost to go to Pula. There were doubts, given Carlos’ youth and his worth, but Alcaraz Sr. knew. that this was the perfect opportunity to gauge his son’s potential against some of the best U10 tennis players in the world.
Because of this, together with Kiko Navarro, Carlos Sr.’s academy coach, they are looking for support to cover the costs of the tournament.since those times, Alcaraz received only a little help, in the form of sports equipment, from Babolat.
The proposal came to Alfonso López Rueda, president of Postres Reina, where Navarro had a good relationship teaching Manuel López, his son. This, according to Navarro, does not “finish the sentence” and accepts the proposal immediately.
A lover of tennis and sports in general, López Rueda has always helped athletes in the region, including the Caravaca soccer club, where he hails from.
“He told me that he would give us what we needed and take me to his son“, assured EFE Navarro, who, despite not being Alcaraz’s coach yet, is part of the expedition that will go to Croatia in July. In addition to the tennis player himself, Tomás, Alcaraz’s father’s brother and the player’s uncle of tennis, is there as a family tutor , and Manuel López, son of Alfonso and five years older than Alcaraz, who will enjoy the vacation experience.
The four flew to Alicante and traveled to Trieste, on the east coast of Italy. There they rented a car where they crossed the Slovenian border and arrived in Pula, on the Istrian peninsula, in Croatia.
“We rented a house near the club. In a lot of tournaments you go to cool cities and you can go sightseeing, but here you have almost nothing to visit. It’s a beach area, but there’s not much to do. From the club we went home and back. There are three courts and the house of a tennis fan who organized the tournament,” explained Navarro.
Along with Alcaraz, in Pula, there are two other Spaniards, Daniel Rincón, who won the junior US Open in 2021, and Alejandro Turriziani. In addition, the painting featured names that are easily recognizable today, such as the Danish Holger Rune.
Organized since the mid 90’s, this Smrikva Bowl is one of the most prestigious youth tournaments. and you only have to look at his record to understand it. Dominic Thiem, a Grand Slam winner and two-time Roland Garros finalist, won it in 2003.
Alcaraz, unseeded unlike Rune, surprised everyone with his performance, including his father, who booked a return ticket for Friday., the day of the quarterfinals. However, the previous day, in the round of 16, the man from El Palmar defeated the Italian Luca Nardi, second favorite and now number 154 in the ranking, and entered the top eight.
Flights had to be canceled and changed to the following Monday. Carlitos, more Carlitos than ever, has the final reach. After eliminating Hamad Medjedovic (currently ranked 156) in the semifinals, Alcaraz faced Turrizani in the final and lost in three sets.
Despite the small disappointment of not winning the title, Alcaraz appears in all the photos with a smile on his face, one of his signatures to this day, and with a Reina dessert patch on his shirt.
The dessert company continued to bet on Spanish in the following years. Informal agreements have been signed, without specifying the amounts, for this Murcian company to continue to support the first steps of the player and, in between, the big sports brands, offering more money, was rejected for two reasons: They didn’t allow the Reina patch to be on the shirt and Reina has a lot of credit for helping Carlitos in his beginning.
That is why Alcaraz wore, in his first steps, Lotto clotheswhich allowed the patch and maintained a relationship with Reina.
The association with Alfonso López Rueda and his desserts lasted until Alcaraz turned 16when he signed with Nike and couldn’t continue with Reina.
Those who know López Rueda are best assured that this is assumed by the businessman, who made it clear from the first moment: “The day an important brand or whatever comes up, I step aside and have no problem. I help the child in his beginningthat when you need me, and hopefully the day will come when I have to put myself aside,” they said.
Since then, the story is well known, Alcaraz won the London U14 Masters, became the U16 European Champion.won the Junior Davis Cup in 2018, scored his first points in the same year, in 2020 he won his first ATP match, in 2021, his first title, and in 2022 came his first Grand Slam and the earliest number one in tennis.
An ascent that began ten years ago, when Alcaraz left Spain for the first time for Trieste. On his chest, he wore the patch of the Queen, in his hand, was the talent with which he would conquer the world a few years later.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
