Carlos Alcaraz has activated steamroller mode in Miami. The Spaniard, for the moment, has been overwhelming with his rivals in search of the ‘Double Sunshine’ (winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same season), a milestone that has only been achieved 11 tennis players in history. In the men’s category they have been Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras, Marcelo Ríos, André Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Meanwhile, in the women’s category, the four tennis players who have achieved it are Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Iga Swiatek.
An illustrious list that the Spanish tennis player wants to join, who is showing his best side of the season on this tour of the American cement. And that has a double explanation. The first is in the player’s own mood, who has recovered his smile and joy in his game, as he pointed out after winning Indian Wells. Something that he has been responsible for reaffirming in Miami, where he has allowed himself to be infected by the atmosphere generated by the public.
This was reflected in the message he left on camera after the match against Lorenzo Musetti. “Miami vibes are crazy”, wrote the Murcian tennis player, who later confirmed his good mood at a press conference. “Obviously winning Indian Wells was very important for me. On a personal level, Thanks to that tournament I started to feel better, on and off the court. Yes, now I feel joy every day with my team, with my close people. My family is here. “It’s a very important support for me too,” said the Spaniard on Tuesday night.
“I want to go to train, I enjoy training. Now I’m in a really good place professionally and personally as well.. Hopefully it continues like this and we’ll see how it goes in the coming weeks. But right now I think about how I feel and it’s a great feeling,” added the El Palmar player.
However, Alcaraz’s improvement goes far beyond the emotional aspect. The Murcian has recovered sensations, but also game. And above all he is showing a more solid side to service. Owner of a right that breathes firewith a more than decent backhand, an exquisite drop shot and a prodigious volley, the serve is his least decisive blow.
“His serve leaves a lot to be desired and I think it’s the only aspect of the game in which it hasn’t improved over the last two years,” Andy Roddick, one of the great servers of all time, noted a few weeks ago.
Those words from the American did not sit well with the Alcaraz team. “It’s easy to criticize him when it’s your best virtue and you see everything so simple. The opinion is respectable, although I don’t share it entirely, because Carlos has improved his serve a lot. If you saw him three years ago you said ‘damn, how he serves.’ It is something that improves little by little, it is not so easy to have a serve with a lot of speed and a lot of direction,” Ferrero said in an interview with Clay magazine during the Buenos Aires tournament in February.
By then, Alcaraz had been training a small adjustment in the mechanics of the service. On his team they have been insisting that he throw the ball higher, higher. “There are times when the movement accelerates him too much and this leads him to throw the ball a little low, to not have enough pause. This is what he is insisted on a lot,” he points out in a conversation with Relevo Antonio Martínez Cascales, counselor of Alcaraz and who acts as second coach in the absence of Ferrero.
In fact, many times Ferrero can be heard shouting “up, up!” from the box when Alcaraz is on duty. The coach is not referring to it going up to the net, but rather to throwing the ball higher.
The data confirms that Alcaraz has taken a leap with the serve. In Miami he is serving with a 75% effective with your first service. Or what is the same, 10% more than the average for his career. He is also winning 76% of his first serve points, also surpassing the 71% he has accumulated in his career.
Cascales is clear about who the Murcian focuses on to improve his serve: “Felix Auger Aliassime. They are two very similar serves, wanting to make a short preparation movement, very controlled. It is not that it is a model, but it is a very similar to that of Felix, who has always served very well. A mirror or a reflection in which to see yourself to take a new step forward in his game that has allowed Alcaraz to ride the waves of the Miami vibe. We’ll see if they take him to the title.
2024-03-28 14:56:46
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