Silly question, but if you play more golf than tennis during a tennis tournament, which draw are you entered in? I ask because Carlos Alcaraz has just said it, calmly, in a video.
Let me start again, because it took me a while. Tomas Martin Etcheverry has launched his YouTube channel, following Jannik Sinner, Ben Shelton and Arthur Fils. In his latest vlog, shot at the ATP 500 in Tokyo, he had Carlos Alcaraz as a guest, along with Jaume Munar. Jaume Munar, world No. 31, asked him for his favourite tournament outside Spain. The answer: “Indian Wells, mate. The golf, being able to relax and feel at home… This tournament is incredible. There have been weeks, even months, when I played more golf than tennis.”
I watched it on the 7:32 train, twice. Months. At Indian Wells. A seven-time Grand Slam champion. I jumped. The woman opposite me did too, but for another reason.
So I looked into it. I wanted to know if there is a rule setting the minimum amount of tennis to play at a tennis tournament. A quota, a form, something. I opened three tabs, read the word “ranking” eleven times, and ended up on a page about the length of socks. I didn’t see the connection. I’m still digging.
What I take from it: the favourite tournament of one of the best players in the world is the one where they let him find time to do something else. Maybe that’s what feeling at home means.
Maxime, at our club we also spend more time in the buvette, the clubhouse bar, than on court 4. Nobody makes a video about it.
I asked Céline whether the buvette counts as golf. She said no. I asked her why. She left. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
