Alcaraz breaks new ground at Wimbledon, faces Rune next
A quick learner and a rapid improver, Carlos Alcaraz has continued in this manner as the tennis tour has shifted to grass.
The young Spaniard progressed to his first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a four-set win over Matteo Berrettini on Monday, a result setting up a highly-anticipated meeting with fellow 20-year-old Holger Rune.
Alcaraz has now reached the last eight at major tournaments on all three surfaces.
He also won the Queen’s Club title two weeks ago, something Australian legend Todd Woodbridge said influenced him to believe Alcaraz was a more legitimate shot at the Wimbledon title.
“I didn't expect that Alcaraz would win that tournament,” Woodbridge told ausopen.com.
"What I thought about Alcaraz's game pre-Queen's was that he has all of the package to play well on grass, but he hadn't been able to find the patterns of play and correct shot selection.
"He got through his first match there, where he could easily have lost that to (Arthur) Rinderknech, and I'm watching that thinking: 'it's all there, but it just wasn't in the right order of how to build points, build pressure on grass'.
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“The Queen's court played very fast. And that means that if you can handle that court, you're in great form, your timing's good and you just take that confidence over to Wimbledon, where you do get a little bit more time, because the courts are slightly softer.
“I think automatically those extra matches that he got throughout that week, and that confidence, are really the thing that makes him that one contender that can really worry Novak (Djokovic).”
After seeing off Jeremy Chardy and Alexandre Muller, Alcaraz was pushed to four sets by Nicolas Jarry and Berrettini, two tall, brutally-powerful opponents whose weapons translate well to grass.
Berrettini had not dropped serve for the entire tournament; against Alcaraz he averaged first-serve speeds of 203km/h and landed 71 per cent of them. But Alcaraz countered this impressively, creating 16 break-point opportunities and restricting him to just nine aces.
The world No.1 saw him off in three hours – winning 22 of his 31 trips to net in the process – and confirmed Woodbridge’s assessment that his belief was growing on the lawns.
“I'm going to say the movement, the confidence,” Alcaraz replied when asked what had most improved in his grass-court game in the past year.
“I have more confidence, more experience. I would say on grass is really, really important. I'm going to say that.”
As well as his ability to neutralise, Alcaraz was also able to get on the front foot.
He matched Berrettini for winners – 35 each – and nearly attained the same top speed on serve, clocking his fastest at 216km/h.
"Even in the (Queen's) final, against Alex (de Minaur), off good rally balls, out of nowhere, there's a forehand that comes off Alcaraz's racquet that is just phenomenal,” Woodbridge observed.
“I don't think I've ever seen a player hit a winner, a meter-by-a-meter inside a line, and beat a fast player by pace like he does.
“It's just extraordinary stuff.”
This was the exact shot Alcaraz executed to earn set point in the third set against Berrettini, who appeared to respond with a thumbs-up.
Victory over Berrettini was Alcaraz’ ninth straight on grass; he is unbeaten on the surface this year. He had won 17 consecutive sets on it until Jarry snatched the second set of their third-round match.
Awaiting in the quarterfinals is Rune – a blockbuster match-up and the first Wimbledon men’s quarterfinal of the Open era to feature two players under the age of 21.
“I'm really happy to be able to play my first quarterfinal here in Wimbledon. Really excited about it,” Alcaraz said.
“Let's keep rolling.”
