Alcaraz Ascendant

Alcaraz Ascendant

You should have seen Carlos Alcaraz play Reilly Opelka last night. Carlos is 6ft; Reilly is 6’11. The big man has a fearsome serve, which gave the shorter man a good deal of trouble. But Carlos out-served him. I felt sorry for the poor sod, having done to him what he does to others. Of course, Carlos won, but it was a battle of short aggressive points. More significantly, however, Carlos sported a new look: hair shaved almost to the skull, maroon outfit from head to toe, muscle-revealing tank top. He went from boy to bad-ass overnight. It was a shrewd move, in my judgment. It befits his status as the most frightening player around. Somehow, I don’t think Jannik Singer could pull it off. I wonder what new heights Alcaraz will ascend to now.

Speaking of palpable cool, I’ve been learning to sing “Black is Black” by Los Bravos. The lead singer, Mike Kennedy (real name Michael Volker Kogel—he’s German in a Spanish band), exudes bad-ass charisma. I won’t try to describe it, but an old video on Youtube displays it perfectly. I learned that he was a bit of a “wild man” back then (the Sixties) and is now living penniless in a care home in northern Spain at 80 years old. I see an affinity between singer and tennis player. We need more of that. I’m trying to play like Carlos and sing like Mike.