Alcaraz is clueless after loss to Dimitrov

This is exactly what I’m talking about, Alcarez has no area to grow as a player, except for mentally

Mentally is the most difficult area to grow for humans.

It’s very possible that in the next few years we will see Sinner completely eclipse him if he doesn’t get his act together
 
Nate7-5 said:
I was hoping Grigor was going to play like in AusOpen. He has been on a pretty good tear since Paris Bercy!
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I'd say since the US Open... This 3rd round against Zverev was incredible. Then he beat Rune in Beijing and Alcaraz in Shanghaï. Was the only one to win a set against Sinner in Beijing.
His only bad tournament since August is the AO (lost to Borges)
 
chrisbc said:
Now that's a stretch.
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TTW moment.

From improving his serve to continuing to work tactically to further honing his backhand/forehand to returning. He has room for growth everywhere relative to his ceiling.

But somehow Sinner, at the peak of his powers I must add, must be shoehorned here and also projected to separate himself from the younger Alcaraz when a week ago, just a week ago, Alcaraz came back from a 1-6 beatdown to win against Sinner himself.

In any case, what Alcaraz said is far more gracious than going all "my level sucked lol but Bravo Grigor".
 
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It's not like Alcaraz screwed up tactically, so I understand his confusion. Grigor was just completely in the zone, there wasn't much Alcaraz could've done differently. He could've played better obviously, like making a lot more serves and being more steady in his return rallies. But on the whole Dimitrov took the racket out of his hands.

Sometimes you just get punched in the mouth. Especially in Bo3.
 
jackson vile said:
This is exactly what I’m talking about, Alcarez has no area to grow as a player, except for mentally

Mentally is the most difficult area to grow for humans.

It’s very possible that in the next few years we will see Sinner completely eclipse him if he doesn’t get his act together
Click to expand...
I agree that playing with brains is tough to master at the top of tennis; however, I can't accept the notion that there's nothing Carlos can learn in sense of his tennis skills and strategies. The young Spaniard failed to read Grigor's plays and paniced on the baseline. I believe that when he plays Dimitrov next time, he'll be more agressive to the net and he'll exploit the Bulragian's one handed backhand better than last night in Miami.
 
The highlight reel makes it feel like Grigor has a style matchup edge vs. Carlitos.

Carlos’ 2hb against the Grigor slice looks a bit underpowered/overly spinny in the neutral rallies, letting Grigor either run around it too easily or go back to the knifing slice from a natural shoulder high contact point. And the slice is maintaining the edge in the rally.

And Grigor also seems to have a natural edge in the crosscourt fh exchanges too from sw edge, as one of the only guys on tour with the athleticism to keep up with Carlos and not fall behind in rally due to lack of movement.

Alcaraz relies a lot on the dropshot, but Dimitrov is fast enough to neutralize it.

I expect Zverev will advance as he has style matchup edge over Dimitrov unlike Carlos.
 
travlerajm said:
The highlight reel makes it feel like Grigor has a style matchup edge vs. Carlitos.

Carlos’ 2hb against the Grigor slice looks a bit underpowered/overly spinny in the neutral rallies, letting Grigor either run around it too easily or go back to the knifing slice from a natural shoulder high contact point. And the slice is maintaining the edge in the rally.

And Grigor also seems to have a natural edge in the crosscourt fh exchanges too from sw edge, as one of the only guys on tour with the athleticism to keep up with Carlos and not fall behind in rally due to lack of movement.

Alcaraz relies a lot on the dropshot, but Dimitrov is fast enough to neutralize it.

I expect Zverev will advance as he has style matchup edge over Dimitrov unlike Carlos.
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Great post. Much better than the many bravado posts "my player will destroy xyz and will win calendar slam / sunshine double etc etc". It's all about matchups, playing conditions, form of the day and a lot more.
 
I think Dimitrov's slices really helped slow down the point and let him get back into position, and then the game just came down to the difference in experience. This next match against Zverev will be interesting, but I am hoping to see a Dimitrov vs. Sinner final! Honestly, this match was probably the most fun I've watched in a while.
 
Move said:
Great post. Much better than the many bravado posts "my player will destroy xyz and will win calendar slam / sunshine double etc etc". It's all about matchups, playing conditions, form of the day and a lot more.
Click to expand...

My player will destroy the remaining Mugs and win Miami etc etc

giphy.gif
 
travlerajm said:
The highlight reel makes it feel like Grigor has a style matchup edge vs. Carlitos.

Carlos’ 2hb against the Grigor slice looks a bit underpowered/overly spinny in the neutral rallies, letting Grigor either run around it too easily or go back to the knifing slice from a natural shoulder high contact point. And the slice is maintaining the edge in the rally.

And Grigor also seems to have a natural edge in the crosscourt fh exchanges too from sw edge, as one of the only guys on tour with the athleticism to keep up with Carlos and not fall behind in rally due to lack of movement.

Alcaraz relies a lot on the dropshot, but Dimitrov is fast enough to neutralize it.

I expect Zverev will advance as he has style matchup edge over Dimitrov unlike Carlos.
Click to expand...
Frankly, all players face their own sets of challenges when it comes to their game and when you have a weakness it's not nearly that easy to fix.

With Alcaraz, he really enjoys just overpowering the opponent with no response back. And when his power is met back with interest or even more, when he is the one of defence, he doesn't know how to respond. That's because insinctive mechanisms kick in and he either panicks and makes a lot of UEs or just plays very defensive with 0 intent behind his shots.

It's a multi-layered issue and not just ingraved into things like match-up advantages.

When your ball bashing is inefficient, you need to throw in slower balls and wait for a better opportunity to strike, when your opponent dominates the baseline you need to hang on with the serve and accept the defeat, while waiting for a change in momentum, which is what he couldn't do properly against Dimitrov.

It's a game of hiding your technical weaknesses, hanging on mentally and problem solving on the run. A very difficult task when you don't have the most solid base out there.
 
InsideOut900 said:
Frankly, all players face their own sets of challenges when it comes to their game and when you have a weakness it's not nearly that easy to fix.

With Alcaraz, he really enjoys just overpowering the opponent with no response back. And when his power is met back with interest or even more, when he is the one of defence, he doesn't know how to respond. That's because insinctive mechanisms kick in and he either panicks and makes a lot of UEs or just plays very defensive with 0 intent behind his shots.

It's a multi-layered issue and not just ingraved into things like match-up advantages.

When your ball bashing is inefficient, you need to throw in slower balls and wait for a better opportunity to strike, when your opponent dominates the baseline you need to hang on with the serve and accept the defeat, while waiting for a change in momentum, which is what he couldn't do properly against Dimitrov.

It's a game of hiding your technical weaknesses, hanging on mentally and problem solving on the run. A very difficult task when you don't have the most solid base out there.
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Can you elaborate on the solid base ? Shot tolerance, playing from the baseline ?
 
InsideOut900 said:
Frankly, all players face their own sets of challenges when it comes to their game and when you have a weakness it's not nearly that easy to fix.

With Alcaraz, he really enjoys just overpowering the opponent with no response back. And when his power is met back with interest or even more, when he is the one of defence, he doesn't know how to respond. That's because insinctive mechanisms kick in and he either panicks and makes a lot of UEs or just plays very defensive with 0 intent behind his shots.

It's a multi-layered issue and not just ingraved into things like match-up advantages.

When your ball bashing is inefficient, you need to throw in slower balls and wait for a better opportunity to strike, when your opponent dominates the baseline you need to hang on with the serve and accept the defeat, while waiting for a change in momentum, which is what he couldn't do properly against Dimitrov.

It's a game of hiding your technical weaknesses, hanging on mentally and problem solving on the run. A very difficult task when you don't have the most solid base out there.
Click to expand...
Correct. But like at IW he does sometimes solve things but you're right ultimately.

I'm sure he won't be disheartened by this and continue to strive to fix one thing at a time.
 
Move said:
Can you elaborate on the solid base ? Shot tolerance, playing from the baseline ?
Click to expand...
It's mostly tied to his shot tolerance and general baseline prowess, of course.
I have probably reciting this for over a year, so there you go :D

Alcaraz tends to play a hard hitting game, which gave the impression to most he is a great baseliner thrown in any scenario, but in reality he is vulnerable when he is not on top of his opponent.

Matches like the USO semi and the recent AO quarterfinal exposed just that. When Alcaraz has a lot of room to manuever he finds powerful shots, dropshots, nice angles. But when Medvedev returned his power back with interest and when robbed of time, all of these 'nice' shots vanished because he couldn't execute the essential one, which was matching the rally pace of his opponent.
Against Zverev or against Dimi yesterday, when faced with hard hitting and forced to counterpunch, he became a sitting duck, feeding weak responses and errors.

This stems from 2 things: his footwork being less than elite and his hitting technique from both wings being out of sync with his footwork.
On the FH he does the arm charging thing, except when he gets rushed he is out of balance and tends to fall backwards, resulting in a weaker, loopier shot and on the BH side he gets jammed due to the stiff arm technique, being unable to generate any angle and pose a threat as a counterpuncher.
Also noticed deep slices make him fall backward on his FH when he is hitting it.

The fact his footwork and hitting technique are suboptimal when rushed greatly hurt his counterpunching and ability to construct points, which are a core part of what makes every great baseliner in the modern era.

By contrast, someone like Sinner executes the counterpunching and point construction better due to a more stable footwork and tighter hitting technique, which should win him more matches on average, but lacks the A game power and creativity of Alcaraz.
 
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howdytennis writes on insta today that Raz and his team will continue to work on his serve and are ‘looking at FAA’s serve as somewhat of a model’.
 
InsideOut900 said:
It's mostly tied to his shot tolerance and general baseline prowess, of course.
I have probably reciting this for over a year, so there you go :D

Alcaraz tends to play a hard hitting game, which gave the impression to most he is a great baseliner thrown in any scenario, but in reality he is vulnerable when he is not on top of his opponent.

Matches like the USO semi and the recent AO quarterfinal exposed just that. When Alcaraz has a lot of room to manuever he finds powerful shots, dropshots, nice angles. But when Medvedev returned his power back with interest and when robbed of time, all of these 'nice' shots vanished because he couldn't execute the essential one, which was matching the rally pace of his opponent.
Against Zverev or against Dimi yesterday, when faced with hard hitting and forced to counterpunch, he became a sitting duck, feeding weak responses and errors.

This stems from 2 things: his footwork being less than elite and his hitting technique from both wings being out of sync with his footwork.
On the FH he does the arm charging thing, except when he gets rushed he is out of balance and tends to fall backwards, resulting in a weaker, loopier shot and on the BH side he gets jammed due to the stiff arm technique, being unable to generate any angle and pose a threat as a counterpuncher.
Also noticed deep slices make him fall backward on his FH when he is hitting it.

The fact his footwork and hitting technique are suboptimal when rushed greatly hurt his counterpunching and ability to construct points, which are a core part of what makes every great baseliner in the modern era.

By contrast, someone like Sinner executes the counterpunching and point construction better due to a more stable footwork and tighter hitting technique, which should win him more matches on average, but lacks the A game power and creativity of Alcaraz.
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This is a brilliant analysis and it’s apparent since the US Open, I feel he needs to add to his coaching team as there seems to be no progress with JFC so far in this regard for more than 6 months
 
He got beat by the better player on the day. Baby Fed played his very best tennis and Carlos was on the receiving end. His movement and slice neutralised everything Carlos had to offer, tactically nailed it. For fans of the one handed backhand you should be supporting this guy, it is an oil painting.
 
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InsideOut900 said:
Frankly, all players face their own sets of challenges when it comes to their game and when you have a weakness it's not nearly that easy to fix.

With Alcaraz, he really enjoys just overpowering the opponent with no response back. And when his power is met back with interest or even more, when he is the one of defence, he doesn't know how to respond. That's because insinctive mechanisms kick in and he either panicks and makes a lot of UEs or just plays very defensive with 0 intent behind his shots.

It's a multi-layered issue and not just ingraved into things like match-up advantages.

When your ball bashing is inefficient, you need to throw in slower balls and wait for a better opportunity to strike, when your opponent dominates the baseline you need to hang on with the serve and accept the defeat, while waiting for a change in momentum, which is what he couldn't do properly against Dimitrov.

It's a game of hiding your technical weaknesses, hanging on mentally and problem solving on the run. A very difficult task when you don't have the most solid base out there.
Click to expand...
Very right.

The guy has a lot of variety but not a lot of tactical brilliance.
 
Salmon said:
I think Dimitrov's slices really helped slow down the point and let him get back into position, and then the game just came down to the difference in experience. This next match against Zverev will be interesting, but I am hoping to see a Dimitrov vs. Sinner final! Honestly, this match was probably the most fun I've watched in a while.
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Now imagine watching Peak Federer produce this level match after match, week after week for years together. That’s why nothing or nobody can ever replace the magic that Federer brought to the tour.
 
InsideOut900 said:
It's mostly tied to his shot tolerance and general baseline prowess, of course.
I have probably reciting this for over a year, so there you go :D

Alcaraz tends to play a hard hitting game, which gave the impression to most he is a great baseliner thrown in any scenario, but in reality he is vulnerable when he is not on top of his opponent.

Matches like the USO semi and the recent AO quarterfinal exposed just that. When Alcaraz has a lot of room to manuever he finds powerful shots, dropshots, nice angles. But when Medvedev returned his power back with interest and when robbed of time, all of these 'nice' shots vanished because he couldn't execute the essential one, which was matching the rally pace of his opponent.
Against Zverev or against Dimi yesterday, when faced with hard hitting and forced to counterpunch, he became a sitting duck, feeding weak responses and errors.

This stems from 2 things: his footwork being less than elite and his hitting technique from both wings being out of sync with his footwork.
On the FH he does the arm charging thing, except when he gets rushed he is out of balance and tends to fall backwards, resulting in a weaker, loopier shot and on the BH side he gets jammed due to the stiff arm technique, being unable to generate any angle and pose a threat as a counterpuncher.
Also noticed deep slices make him fall backward on his FH when he is hitting it.

The fact his footwork and hitting technique are suboptimal when rushed greatly hurt his counterpunching and ability to construct points, which are a core part of what makes every great baseliner in the modern era.

By contrast, someone like Sinner executes the counterpunching and point construction better due to a more stable footwork and tighter hitting technique, which should win him more matches on average, but lacks the A game power and creativity of Alcaraz.
Click to expand...
I don't know about deep slices making him fall backward. Every player is forced backwards when a deep shot is hit.

But I would add that it's much easier to return second serve vs him now, might be set in predictable patterns. Even his first serve averages 110 mph or so without having a great slice serve.

But what you said about his shots lacking a bite is true. If not given time, he loops his forehand a lot more and unless you are on very slow surfaces, it would be a big problem going forward. Players know if given time how dangerous he is. If he played Sinner in Miami instead of IW, he would lose just like yesterday even though Sinner does not possess variety of Dimitrov.
 
jackson vile said:
This is exactly what I’m talking about, Alcarez has no area to grow as a player, except for mentally

Mentally is the most difficult area to grow for humans.

It’s very possible that in the next few years we will see Sinner completely eclipse him if he doesn’t get his act together
Click to expand...
He literally just beat Sinner the last time they played so ....

This is typical TTW, make a huge deal.out of one match, did the same with Sinner at IW. Players lose matches sometimes, players have periods of time when they're not at their best and have self doubt, this has happened to every player in history at some point. Of course he has areas to grow, he's 20.

This loss means nothing in the long term, these are good lessons for young Carlos that will make him better in the long run if anything.
 
Ttw is not THAT stupid. Guy wins one match. Now NO ONE is saying he will win 25 slams.

It was okay to make fun of ttw post Wimbledon 2023 but not now. We are not stupid.
 
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