In the third set tiebreak of the 2024 Wimbledon Men’s Singles final, Carlos Alcaraz, the eventual champion, showed incredible feel at the net to play an eye-popping drop shot. It was the kind of drop shot, where he showcased finesse plus regal touch to befuddle his illustrious opponent, Novak Djokovic. But in a match, where Alcaraz put on a mind-numbing exhibition of touch-play and athleticism, you still wondered whether a small capsule of the 21-year-old’s genius-gene was the highlight of the match.
Such was the range of stroke-play on view, that it would be difficult to pick five of Alcaraz’s best shots for the person entrusted to piece together highlights for the official channels of Wimbledon. For a moment, spool back in time to the opening set and you would observe a pulsating rally, with Djokovic cracking the cross-court forehand. That forehand seemed to have done enough damage for Djokovic to finish the point with the volley. Reality turned out to be different, as Alcaraz ran towards the ball like a hungry cheetah and flummoxed Djokovic with a deep-dive volley.
Simply put, he supplemented his athletic gifts with flawless technique to win the point: The strings, his feet and hands were all in the path of the ball. Not just Djokovic, perhaps the commentator himself couldn’t believe the skill level on display. For a second or two, the commentator was speechless and uttered just two words: Oh! Wow.
After pocketing the first set 6-2, it was time for Alcaraz to demonstrate some raw power and wrist-work in the second. At 1-0, 30-15, he ripped a forehand down the line, which was an amalgamation of depth, precision and strength. Alcaraz’s forehand is also such that it seems difficult to guess whether he would go down-the-line or cross-court. All that Djokovic could do was watch the ball being collected by the ball-boy and slowly wipe his forehead after turning towards his right. It was a sign that in his mind, helplessness was slowly replacing gladiatorial self-belief.
Alcaraz’s jaw-dropping exhibition continued, with him whipping another of those running-forehand-passes in the last set. Once more that shot capsulised the robustness of Alcaraz’s movements and dollops of skill. The match also included some power-packed backhands from Alcaraz. Even Alcaraz’s serve, supposedly his weakness, didn’t let him down in the first couple of sets. In fact, one of his serves was measured at 135mph.
Even if you look through the prism of stats, it is crystal clear that Alcaraz surgically dismantled his opponent’s game. Alcaraz won 58 per cent of the baseline points compared to just 39 per cent for Djokoivic. Alcaraz cracked 21 forehand and 10 backhand winners to just 6 and 3 for Djokovic.
Shockingly, Alcaraz had a clear upper hand over Djokovic in terms of their respective backhands too. Djokovic didn’t just collect a mere three winners but also made a whopping 22 errors on that wing. We are here thinking of a player who has one of the finest backhands of all time.
It indicated that Djokovic was slightly out of sorts and he was also put under pressure by Alcaraz’s all-round game. It has to be mentioned here that Djokovic had to undergo a surgery after injuring his knee at the French Open and that would have hurt his preparations to some extent. Djokovic’s strategy also was to surprise Alcaraz with more approaches towards the net. Even in that aspect of the game, there was no doubt that Alcaraz was better by a fair distance.
By hoisting the glittering Wimbledon trophy, Alcaraz became only the sixth man in the history of tennis to complete the double of winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. Three of those six men are the Big Three – Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Comparisons have already been drawn between Alcaraz and three of the greatest players to have wielded the tennis racquet.
At the age of 21, it is too early to say where Alcaraz would end up among the pantheon of greats. Alongside gift-wrapped skills, it would require insatiable hunger to keep winning over a period of time. Having said that, there is no real loophole in Alcaraz’s game. As Djokovic himself once said: “He is as complete a player I have seen for ages.” When a player, who has achieved innumerable milestones, tells something, it is better you listen to his nugget. All hail, the new king of tennis!
Stats courtesy – ATP tour official website