Alcaraz’s performance at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships was discontinued
Carlos Alcaraz’s performance at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships was discontinued. The Spaniard, who won the Indian Wells Masters 1000 and the French Open this year, has yet to express his best tennis on grass. Last year’s champion suffered against Frances Tiafoe and Ugo Humbert, making numerous unforced errors and risking a shocking elimination.
‘Carlitos’ is not serving Wimbledon well and his opponents can easily read his trajectories, responding deep and preventing him from dominating the exchanges. The former world number 1 is aware of having to raise his level to win his second Wimbledon.
Alcaraz had surprised the world last year by winning the Championships, as he was not considered the main favorite on the eve of the tournament. The current world number 3 had dominated the semi-final against Daniil Medvedev, before defeating seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the final.
Carlos Alcaraz was pushed all the way
The next opponent at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships will be Tommy Paul, who has often put him in trouble in the past. The American is expressing his best tennis on this surface and really believes he can accomplish the feat at Church Road.
Tommy will take the court with nothing to lose and ‘Carlitos’ will have to be careful to limit distractions to avoid trouble. Meanwhile, Alcaraz reached for the ninth time the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam, equaling Manuel Orantes and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in the history of Spanish tennis.
2024 was a special year for Carlos, who faced some physical problems (especially an arm injury). Despite not being at 100% form, the Spaniard managed to win the third Slam of his career at the French Open last month. Carlos Alcaraz is aware of having to improve to win his fourth Major in his career. “I just tried to fight for every ball,” Alcaraz explained after his match against Humbert.
“It doesn’t matter which part of the court I am in, just giving myself the chance to stay alive in the point. On set point, that was a really important point for me. It didn’t matter what he was going to do, I am going to be there, fighting until the last ball. Playing a lefty is always tricky. I played a lefty at Queen’s and learned a bit from that match. I felt great playing today. I played at a really high level,” Alcaraz added.
Carlos Alcaraz wants the semi-final
During the press conference after his victory over Humbert, Alcaraz confessed that he did not like indoor conditions: “I’m not used to playing indoors (on grass), I’m not going to lie, but I don’t consider myself a bad indoor player,” he said after the entire Centre Court programme on Sunday was played under the roof due to heavy rain showers in London.
“I just think that a lot of players are better than me. But honestly, I would prefer to play outdoor. That’s obvious. If we have to play outdoor or indoor, I have to adapt my game with the conditions that it is. If I have to choose, I would choose outdoor.”
Alcaraz has to handle a lot of pressure in Grand Slam tournaments, but it is necessary if he wants to reach the level of legends like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The Spaniard has repeatedly confessed to be inspired by the Big 3, who have made the history of tennis breaking many records.
His biggest opponent is definitely Jannik Sinner, who has become the world’s number 1 thanks to an extraordinary progression in the last nine months. The Italian won his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open and proved several times that he could beat Alcaraz.
According to many experts, the rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz will be the new engine of men’s tennis in the next decade. Behind them are some great talents like Holger Rune, Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca and Sebastian Korda, who have not yet found the right continuity.
Carlos and Jannik could face each other in the semifinal on Friday, but they will first have to beat their opponents in the quarterfinals.
During an interview in Wimbledon, former World No.1 Daniil Medvedev explained the differences between Alcaraz and Sinner: “Carlos has a very big quality, like power quality. When he was 17, he could miss a lot. Now when he’s in the zone he doesn’t miss much and we saw it in Roland Garros.
Jannik [Sinner] is a bit different, but kind of the same, with a big quality of strokes. The motion is different so the way the ball coming to you is different. Even if Jannik has very big power, Carlos has even more and he managed to find it at the end of last year in Canada when he won his first Masters, he started missing less. We always knew it’s tough to play him.”
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