Carlos Alcaraz hasn’t looked at his 100% best at the ongoing Wimbledon. Despite being the defending champion, the Spaniard has had to grind it hard for victories in his opening three matches in this edition. Additionally, he was engrossed in another tough battle, this time against Ugo Humbert, in the fourth round.
After winning the first two sets, Alcaraz lost the third set tamely 6-1. Subsequently, in the fourth set, he committed a double fault to go down 3-4 and 0-40. As a result, he screamed in frustration at his father and coach, who were seated in his box. Additionally, he also let a few words slip from his mouth, saying, “I don’t know what to do.”
Despite being agonizingly frustrated with his errors, Alcaraz kept calm to save three break points in that game and managed to hold his serve to level the fourth set 4-4. Eventually, he broke Humbert in the 11th game and held his serve subsequently to win the set 7-5 and enter the quarterfinals of the tournament.
After winning the French Open title, Alcaraz has had a subdued preparation for the grass-court season. He played just a solitary tournament in the lead-up to the Wimbledon Championships. It was the Queen’s Club event where he lost in the round of 16 against the local star, Jack Draper. As a result, he has his task cut out to defend his Wimbledon title.
Despite his struggles, there has been one major improvement in Alcaraz’s game. It is his serving skills, which has got an added dimension with time. While he hit 16 aces against Frances Tiafoe in the third round, Alcaraz served 14 aces against Humbert. The Spaniard pointed out how this new skill set has helped him win close matches.
Carlos Alcaraz gets ahead of the competition with an added skill set
The Spaniard is known more for his return game than his service game. This can be delved from the fact that he is more successful on clay than grass and even prefers the red soil more. However, with time, Alcaraz has improved his service game as he puts a lot more focus on it. This can be seen from his display at the Wimbledon Championships this year, where he has hit a lot more aces compared to other tournaments in the past.
Explaining this massive improvement, the Spaniard said, “It’s something I’ve improved quite a lot. It’s been on my to-do list for many years: Trying to improve my serve.”
In his third-round match against Tiafoe, Alcaraz had a close win in 5 sets. His strong serves helped him win key moments in the encounter as he mentioned, “In situations like today’s I had to try and get points from my serve. I had to make it significant, a key part of my game, at difficult moments… I’m happy to see we’ve improved it, and that we’ll continue to improve it.”
Up next, Alcaraz will take on the winner of the match between Tommy Paul and Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals. With growing confidence, it’ll be interesting to see if Alcaraz can win back-to-back Grand Slam titles and defend his Wimbledon crown.