Carlos Alcaraz rewinds to the past after a set of strong emotions in which Aleksandar Vukic, rebelling against the bad fate that awaits him, made things very difficult for him but was unable to score. After turning around a 5-2 deficit in the first set (5-6) and having managed to considerably reduce the advantage that the Spaniard had obtained in the tie-break, from 5-1 to 5-4, the Australian receives a severe slap in the face that sends him out of the tournament and leads the Murcian to the duel in the third round against the American Frances Tiafoe, whom he defeated on that wonderful track two years ago that granted him his first major at the US Open. But those, says Carlitos in the conference room at Wimbledon, were different times. He had not yet been crowned number one nor had he conquered New York, Paris or London itself. The explosion was coming.
“I remember that I had match point in the fourth set and that it ended up going all the way to five. It was very close, but I hope it won’t be the same now…” he jokes to the journalists before taking a second look back in time to his origins. This time, more distant. The Spaniard (7-6(5), 6-2 and 6-2, in 1h 48m) says that all that daring and boldness that he displays today when playing on grass comes from his childhood, when his arm deficit forced him to move forward to compensate. “It comes naturally to me. I have always stood out in that, because when I was little I didn’t have strength or great shots, but I did have a lot of variety. And that is why I stood out a bit at 10, 11 and 12 years old: I could serve to the net already at that age, lobs, go up to the net, drop shots… I had a fairly wide variety that has always come naturally to me,” he explains.
The fact is that Alcaraz, a countercultural tennis player in this era in which the vast majority compete in a herd, from baseline to baseline and with little else on offer, continues to stand out also on the green. In contrast to the less dynamic and increasingly conservative tendency of players in recent years at Wimbledon, he stands out by competing with the knife between his teeth, against the current, defiant, as if he were winking at the founding principles of grass tennis. The net serve, the quick bounce and the expeditions towards the tightrope area to volley have practically become a thing of the past, an exception, and the dilemma is essentially resolved from the trenches. Jaume Munar accompanies him in the technical explanation.
“Yes, it is very important to be aggressive here because it is very difficult to defend. Only the very, very good have the ability to be neutral and play very long to win the rally, based on the fact that the other player does not attack because you cannot do it either; Djokovic does it and Murray did it at his best, but that is really complicated,” says the Mallorcan, who is quoted this Thursday at the second station with Alex de Miñaur. “Here, defending is not an option, but it is true that the game is played much more from the baseline. The court is very slow. Even so, the serve and the return are still decisive, and the first shot after the serve and the return as well; if you are not aggressive, it is very difficult to turn the point around,” Munar specifies.
And Alcaraz applies the ideology to the letter, who continues to gain range in the game, but who in London constantly pushes forward with the aim of anticipating and dominating the opponent. For example, the 26 approaches to the net made against Vukic, with 20 successes; the 11 direct serves signed, a considerable figure in his personal statistics; and above all, the recital offered in the volley, a resource that he uses with absolute naturalness. “For me it is a great weapon and I feel very comfortable like this, as it requires me to hit forward. When I support myself well and I am in a position to go up to the net to finish the point, I do not hesitate, I do it; on grass, doing so is super important; being in an attacking position before the other helps me a lot to be faithful to my style and impose my game,” he answers.
This is how Alcaraz develops, and tennis is grateful. To the point that the newspaper The Times He describes him as “the saviour” of his sport, considering the direction the competition has taken. “It is very good praise and I accept it. It feels good to hear that, but I don’t feel that way; I don’t consider myself a saviour and I’m not close to that. In the end, tennis is evolving. We had a very nice period with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic; we can no longer enjoy Roger and we continue to enjoy Novak; Rafa, what he is playing… And now, we (he says in the majestic plural) try to offer good tennis and we try to make people enjoy it. There are many players who are also nice to watch, who I personally enjoy, just like the people, but I am not a saviour.”
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