For Carlos Alcaraz, not yet out of his teens but already with a US Open title and the No 1 ranking on his résumé, tennis would appear to hold few mysteries.
One puzzle Alcaraz has struggled to solve, however, is Felix Auger-Aliassime. Going into their quarter-final showdown in Indian Wells, the big-serving Canadian was unbeaten in three previous meetings between the pair, his stranglehold over the fledgling rivalry underlined by Alcaraz’s failure to break serve in 33 return games across those matches.
The devil is in the detail, of course, and it is worth noting that Alcaraz retired with an injury midway through the first of those defeats, which came in the US Open quarter-finals in 2021, while the next two matches were played on indoor hard courts, where Auger-Aliassime tends to be at his most effective. The imperative for Alcaraz as the pair locked horns in the California desert was nonetheless clear: puncture the aura of invincibility surrounding Auger-Aliassime’s serve as early as possible.
On an absorbing night in the Coachella Valley, this simple but compelling dynamic made for a contest of electrifying intensity. Alcaraz went about his business briskly, whistling through his early service games, forever impatient for his next crack at his opponent’s delivery, always ready to delve deeply into his extensive repertoire. As the Spaniard went about his work with evident relish, fashioning an early break point only to come out on the wrong end of a cat-and-mouse baseline exchange, the quality of the shot-making and court coverage from both men was rarely less than breath-taking. If this was a glimpse into the future of the men’s game, bring it on.
“I watched videos, of course, from the last matches that I played against him,” said Alcaraz after sealing a 6-4, 6-4 victory in an hour and 59 minutes.
“It’s something that I was really focused [on] before the match, trying to return every serve, trying to play aggressively and taking the opportunity when he’s serving the second serve. It’s something that I was thinking about since the beginning of the match.”
The pivotal moment came in the fifth game, a miniature classic in which the momentum swung back and forth for 12 minutes before Alcaraz finally achieved the breakthrough he craved. Throughout, Auger-Aliassime, no doubt as conscious as Alcaraz of the mental edge conferred by his dominance on serve, fought tigerishly to hold. When the Spaniard fashioned two break points with a signature move, forcing his opponent off the baseline with a colossal forehand before feathering away a drop shot, Auger-Aliassime responded with an ace and a brilliant forehand pass.
The Canadian’s serve bailed him out once again before Alcaraz won the point of the match, defending superbly out of both corners, conjuring a magnificent lob to get himself back in the rally, and then working his way forward to punch away a volley. Ever the showman, Alcaraz cupped his hand to his ear after that one, exhorting the already fevered crowd to new heights of delirium. Again, though, the chance went begging, an outstanding rally ending with an Alcaraz mistake. Yet by now the pressure on Auger-Aliassime was becoming intolerable. A double fault gifted Alcaraz a fifth opportunity and this time the Spaniard made no mistake, somehow spearing a forehand pass beyond Auger-Aliassime at full stretch to move 3-2 ahead. A case of 36th time lucky.
As Alcaraz bounced up and down in unbridled delight, his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, gestured to his temple. Ferrero, a former world No 1, knew the hard work was only just beginning and, sure enough, although Alcaraz continued to threaten with his return game, continually forcing Auger-Aliassime to raise his level merely to stay in touch, the Spaniard needed all his mental fortitude to see out the set. At 5-4, it all came down to a tale of two forehands, Auger-Aliassime failing to unload off that wing on his only break point of the set before Alcaraz stumbled in his gleeful enthusiasm to run around a backhand and blast an inside-in winner on set point.
Having fought long and hard to achieve his first ever break against Auger-Aliassime, Alcaraz found the second rather easier to come by. From 40-30 up in the opening game of the second set, the Canadian produced three successive unforced errors. Alcaraz immediately ceded the advantage with some uncharacteristically poor decision-making, but relentless pressure from the Spaniard finally led to a decisive break in the ninth game, leaving him to seal his first victory over Auger-Aliassime with one last booming forehand.
“All I can say [is] that I took the opportunities this time,” said Alcaraz, who will reclaim the No 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic if he wins the title.
“I was really focused on the return today, [I knew] that it was really, really important for me. I never broke his serve until today, so it’s a good stat for me. I would say that the return was the key of everything.”
Beaten in the semi-finals by his countryman Rafael Nadal last year, Alcaraz will hope for better this time around against Jannik Sinner, the 11th seed, who ended Taylor Fritz’s reign as champion with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory. It will be their first meeting since Alcaraz won a titanic US Open quarter-final against the Italian six months ago. Another clash of generational talents awaits.