How did alcaraz turn around from rg sf to wimby win in such a short timeframe?

S

sportsfan1

Legend
Such a big turnaround, that too on an even bigger stage (final vs sf, on the opponents preferred surface). How'd he overcome his nerves and win in such a short 5 week timeframe? Adjust diet, routines, play patterns?
Grow taller? ;)


The weight of the occasion was much more than at rg, it was history and stat defying.
  • First person outside of big 4 to win in ~ 20 years.
  • Djokovic hadn't lost at wimby in 10 years.
  • Alcaraz was playing only his 4th pro grass court tournament

tennis .com said:
One month he’s cramping after two sets in Paris, and talking about how scared Djokovic makes him.

The next month he’s coming from a set down to win one of the greatest matches of all time, on the sport’s most storied stage, over the man who may be the best player ever.
Click to expand...

www.tennis.com

Wimbledon champ Carlos Alcaraz shows us there’s no need to rein in expectations for him | Tennis.com

The Spaniard has always been an athlete and shotmaker extraordinaire. Now we know he can be a winner, too—against any opponent, on any court.
www.tennis.com www.tennis.com
 
Last edited:
sportsfan1 said:
But he always comes back to lockdown mode and wins.
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You can't just lock down against an attacking player like Alcaraz (and Fed). Djokovic has found success with those players when he's taken every opportunity to attack easy balls. He did this in the first set with good results. As others have mentioned, he reverted to more conservative lockdown mode after that and things didn't go as well.
 
Even at RG it was obvious he was equal to Djokovic and you can't expect Djokovic to win them all and Alcaraz to lost them all when they're equal.
 
acintya said:
Djokovic played just awful.
Click to expand...
He played a good first set. The match turned in the 2nd set and that’s when Djokovic knew he was in a battle. He complained and gestured as the match wore on. He didn’t handle the windy conditions well at all. You need to play with good margins in the wind and he was finding that increasingly difficult because Alcaraz, once settled, made him go for more on his shots. Consequently, he missed many routine shots he normally makes.

He was a beaten man on the day.
 

How did alcaraz turn around from rg sf to wimby win in such a short timeframe?​


He ate his traditional “Sausage lasagna and jelly donuts and liter of Pepsi” pre-match meal at least one full hour before the match this time.
 
Torben said:
He played a good first set. The match turned in the 2nd set and that’s when Djokovic knew he was in a battle. He complained and gestured as the match wore on. He didn’t handle the windy conditions well at all. You need to play with good margins in the wind and he was finding that increasingly difficult because Alcaraz, once settled, made him go for more on his shots. Consequently, he missed many routine shots he normally makes.

He was a beaten man on the day.
Click to expand...
he was, but the wind was a big factor. cant wait for some "closed roof" finals between them. should be nasty
 
acintya said:
the wind was a big factor
Click to expand...
Yes it was and that’s why I was saying that when it’s windy any player needs to play with good margins. If the wind is blowing across the court you need to make sure you don’t hit it too close to the lines otherwise it will go out. Conversely, if the wind is blowing at your back you can’t be trying to hit it too close to the baseline otherwise it will also go out. Alcaraz was forcing Djokovic to go for more and more on his shots and lessen that margin of error. He was walking a tightrope. It’s no wonder he was getting so agitated and frustrated. There were things happening beyond his control.

The conditions indoors suit him better and I guess that was one of the reasons why he wanted the roof closed for that semifinal match with Nadal at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.

Let’s hope he can hang around and they can play more exciting matches.
 
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A few things:
- Alcaraz is mentally tough and knows how to implement variety and successfully execute it during a match (unlike some of the other young players who are mentally fragile and have no variety in their game whatsoever)
- Djoker was the first one to blink on multiple key moments during the Wimbledon final (2 shocking errors off his BH on typical rally shots when he was up 6-5 in 2nd set TB followed by a half-hearted S&V attempt, missed a swinging volley to go up 2-0 in the 5th set)
- Alcaraz handled the windy conditions better than Djoker in the Wimbledon final
- Matches between Alcaraz and Djoker will always hinge on 1 or 2 key points that determine the winner, we could potentially be having a very different conversation today had Djoker gone up 2 sets to 0 instead of the match being locked at 1 set all

Would like to see Alcaraz vs Djoker at 2023 USO & 2024 AO if that happens
 
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