Such is the mesmerising nature of Carlos Alcaraz’s all-court game, it is easy to overlook the tactical intelligence that has underpinned his extraordinary rise. Having all the shots is one thing; understanding how and when they should be deployed, quite another. For most players, it is a skill acquired over the course of years on tour. For Alcaraz, who only celebrated his 19th birthday this week, it seems innate.
Never in his brief but spectacular professional career has Alcaraz’s instinctive feel for the game served him better than at this week’s Madrid Open, where he followed up a landmark quarter-final win over Rafael Nadal with a thrilling 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory over world No 1 Novak Djokovic, becoming the first player ever to fell those two titans of the sport over consecutive days on clay. It was a triumph hewn of prodigious talent allied with determination, self-belief and a clarity of thought under pressure that should not be possible in one so young.
“I would say that I am more mature to manage the tough moments, the nerves, to manage everything on court,” said Alcaraz of a rise that has brought victory in all but three of his 30 matches this season, earning him titles in Rio, Miami and Barcelona and a place in the world’s top 10. “I think I am able to play long rallies… to manage the nerves, to manage the tough moments. I’m ready to play against this kind of player.”
It showed. Alcaraz, the seventh seed, didn’t just outplay Djokovic, he outsmarted him. Few are better versed in the art of shot selection than the Serb, a point he underlined as he sought to retrieve an early break midway through the opening set. Having fashioned a rare break point, Djokovic tamed one of the numerous kick serves Alcaraz sent rearing up above his opponent’s shoulders with an exquisite looped return. It was an unusual shot, one difficult to pull off at an event where high altitude puts control at a premium, and as the ball landed deep and fizzed up off the clay, Alcaraz was momentarily thrown out of his rhythm. The Spaniard missed his next shot, and Djokovic went on to edge the set.
With Alcaraz serving at deuce in the ninth game of the second set, Djokovic made recourse to the tactic again. Having just been denied a break point by another terrific kick serve from Alcaraz, the top seed rolled a return high and deep, pressing for a breakthrough that would leave him serving for the match. This time, though, Alcaraz was ready. His keen tactical mind had banked the first-set precedent, and he knew just what to do. Backing off the baseline, the Spaniard replied in kind, arcing a forehand skywards. He didn’t stop there. With Djokovic now pinned far behind the baseline, Alcaraz came dashing forward in anticipation of another high ball. His intuition was, as always, spot on. As Alcaraz bludgeoned away a swing volley, Djokovic allowed himself a wry smile, a tacit acknowledgement that he had just been outfoxed by a man half his age.
It was a relatively innocuous moment, a minor key in a bold symphony of thunderous shot-making and muscular athleticism, yet it spoke volumes about the tactical agility of a player who, if he can stay healthy, is surely on a fast-track to greatness. Another example of the Spaniard’s preternatural ability to learn on the job came early in the third set, when he slotted a short ball into space with Djokovic stranded at the net. In the previous set, faced with a similar shot that would have left him with two set points, he had tried to outsmart Djokovic by going behind him, only to find his rival had held his ground. Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, may have been behind many of the strategic nuances that won Alcaraz the match – not least the counter-intuitive tactic of spinning his serve up high to the backhand of the sport’s best returner – but there are some things that cannot be taught.
“In those decisive moments is when you see the good players and the top players,” said Alcaraz, who will face Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final after the German world No 3 claimed his first clay-court victory over Stefanos Tsistsipas, the fourth seed, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
“That is where you can tell the difference between a good player and a top player, like Djokovic, Rafa, Federer, or all the players that are ultimately there for a long time. I want to make a difference on that… in those key, decisive [moments], I want to go for the match.”
Go for it he did, accumulating 51 winners to Djokovic’s 24, maintaining his physical level throughout a battle that spanned three hours and 35 minutes, and harnessing the energy of the Madrid crowd as though to the manner born.
Alcaraz’s ability to orchestrate the locals was never more apparent than in the first-set tiebreak, where he came within a point of erasing a 6-2 deficit with an audacious sequence of shot-making – drilled return winner, ace, exquisite drop shot – that showcased both the swashbuckling nature of his game and the variety of his repertoire. Cries of “Sí, se puede!” rained down from the stands – “Yes, you can!” – before Djokovic, no stranger to a hostile crowd, finally erupted in defiant jubilation as Alcaraz netted a backhand. Yet the Spaniard, a blizzard of unwavering vitality and desire, just kept coming, and in the end Djokovic could only hail his young opponent’s boldness and resolve.
“For somebody of his age to play so maturely and courageously is impressive,” said Djokovic. “His kick [at] altitude here is huge, and it was just difficult to deal with his ball. I wasn’t feeling my return from that side. He was serving a lot of kick to put himself in a good position, and I just didn’t manage to handle that well.”
Zverev, who avenged his semi-final defeat to Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo, joked after his late-night victory that the Manolo Santana Stadium, having belonged to Nadal for the past 15 years, would be the property of Alcaraz for the next 15. The German defending champion has been beaten just twice in 21 matches in the Spanish capital, but he is under no illusions about the size of the challenge ahead.
“I’m just extremely happy to be in the final here,” said the 25-year-old. “I know it’s going to be an extremely tough match tomorrow, but I hope I can manage to play my best and give myself a chance.”
As Djokovic and Nadal can attest, chances are increasingly rare against Alcaraz these days.