Carlos Alcaraz was brushed aside in an off-colour display in the Quarter-Finals of the 2024 Australian Open by Alexander Zverev who will now face Daniil Medvedev for a spot in the final. Not at his best throughout the tournament, Justine Henin believes that he has to now go back to the drawing board and still has a lot of learning to do.
Henin said that Zverev ‘smothered’ Alcaraz and that the Spaniard fell into the same trap as he did during his poor spell at the back end of 2023 where wins were hard to come by in the pursuit of the World Number One spot and chasing Novak Djokovic and that he has to learnt to control his game and turn the tide with stability and precision that were lacking in his loss.
“The level Zverev has reached is crazy,” Henin told Eurosport. “He completely dominated Carlos Alcaraz and came onto the court so aggressively. He smothered Alcaraz, and the Spaniard looked like he was in trouble.”
“He was hoping for more after a complicated end to last season and a difficult defeat at the US Open. Today, he’s fallen into the same trap,” Henin added. “When he can’t develop his creativity, when things don’t go his way, he loses himself tactically.
“Carlos Alcaraz still has a lot of learning to do. He won this third set thanks to a minor miracle, as Zverev tightened up a little. At that point, you wondered whether he was going to find the right structure to turn things around for him. That’s what he’s been lacking: stability and precision.
“Despite all his qualities, I think that’s what he needs to learn. Today, he was unable to react for almost three sets. There was a customer in front of him, but Alcaraz lost his way by trying to rush things, by playing too fast.”