Alcaraz finds his personal shade of genius

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

New Delhi: Just a few days ago, the French Open and tennis fans all over the world were transported back to the era of the Big Four; an era when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray ruled the courts with charm, composure and class.
Of the four, only Djokovic is still going strong. The rest have bid adieu to the sport. But we remember their every move mainly because of their consistency. Year after year, week after week, they found a way to excel. The key to that was knowing how to conserve their energy in the first week of the Grand Slam – they would all invariably engage cruise mode. Rarely, if ever, did they falter.
Now, if anyone harbours dreams of matching their feats, one can't help but compare. That is where Carlos Alcaraz time and again shows that he is very much his own man.
The No.2 seed beat the dangerous Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the second round on Wednesday but the manner of his victory was an expression of perhaps his youth.
The 22-year-old breezed through the first set in quick time but then found an inspired Marozsán on the other side of the net in the second. The Hungarian upped his level while Alcaraz dipped a bit... just a bit. But that is what makes watching any Alcaraz match such an event – he tends to blow hot, blow cold way more than the Big Four, but when he gets it right, he is a sight to behold.
In his on-court interview with Mats Wilander after the win, Alcaraz was asked if he is having fun every time he plays.
'Most of the time (laughs). Sometimes, it's difficult to have fun on the court, you know, I had to suffer. It depends on the opponent as well,' the Spaniard said.
'But most of the time, I'm trying to not think about anything else but enjoying playing, enjoying being on these kind of courts.
'The Philippe-Chatrier is a really beautiful court, so I have to enjoy once I step on the court. Just trying to show good tennis, trying to make the people happy to watch my matches as well. That's the way I enjoy playing tennis.'
The showmanship was evident in two shots around the net post, in the way he moved around the court and how he warmed up to the crowd. When the Spaniard is firing on all cylinders, you just have to hope he runs out of fuel. There is no matching him at that point.
The 6-1, 6-2 scoreline in the last two sets might lead one to believe that Marozsán played poorly, but it was all Alcaraz – taking the risks and making it work. The fearlessness of his play is a departure from the cold tactical efficiency of the Big Four but it is helping him amass a Grand Slam record others would envy.
'(I am) just really proud about refresh(ing) my mind and I started the third set really, really well and ended up playing really great two last sets,' Alcaraz said.
'I didn't feel like I lost the focus at all. He just played much better. So, I just think today I maintain my level during the whole match. But in the second set, he reached just much better level than I did.'
Only four players have a better win percentage than Alcaraz (64-12, 84%) in Grand Slams – Bjorn Borg (141–17, 89.2%), Djokovic (383–52, 88%), Nadal (314–44, 87.7%) and Federer (369–60 (86%). It's still early days in his career but one would imagine he would only get better from this point on.
For now, though, Alcaraz is aiming to become the first man to successfully defend the title in Paris since Rafael Nadal in 2019-20. He will next play Damir Dzumhur. His 29-2 record on clay since May 2024 doesn't make him as feared as Nadal yet, but it certainly shows that the Alcaraz way is the right one too. And we don't need to tell him that. He knows.