Carlos Alcaraz beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in the Madrid final, 2022 on clay
It was Alcaraz’s first Masters title on clay and he became the first player to beat Rafael Nadal (quarter-final) and Novak Djokovic (semi-final) in the same event on the surface. He would go onto defend the title the following year. Zverev was the defending champion
Alcaraz won 56 points, Zverev 29
Serve Stats
Alcaraz...
- 1st serve percentage (27/38) 71%
- 1st serve points won (24/27) 89%
- 2nd serve points won (8/11) 73%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/38) 37%
Zverev...
- 1st serve percentage (31/47) 66%
- 1st serve points won (19/31) 61%
- 2nd serve points won (4/16) 25%
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/47) 28%
Serve Pattern
Alcaraz served...
- to FH 50%
- to BH 47%
- to Body 3%
Zverev served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 55%
Return Stats
Alcaraz made...
- 29 (17 FH, 12 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (29/42) 69%
Zverev made...
- 24 (11 FH, 13 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (3 FH, 4 BH)
- 6 Forced (5 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (24/38) 63%
Break Points
Alcaraz 4/8 (5 games)
Zverev 0
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Alcaraz 11 (7 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Zverev 3 (1 BH, 2 OH)
Alcaraz' FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl pass, 2 inside-out (1 pass), 1 inside-in, 2 drop shots
- BHs - 1 inside-out pass, 1 lob
- 2 from serve-volley points, a first volley FHV & a second volley BHV
Zverev's BH - 1 cc
- both OHs were on the bounce
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Alcaraz 13
- 10 Unforced (7 FH, 3 BH)
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46
Zverev 26
- 20 Unforced (12 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)... with 1 swinging FHV
- 6 Forced (1 FH, 5 BH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Alcaraz was...
- 5/6 (83%) at with, including...
- 5/5 (100%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
Zverev was 3/13 (23%) at net
Match Report
Good showing by Alcaraz, a very weak one from Zverev along the lines of being tired and an easy result, QED. Court is quick for clay, though high of bounce
3 &1 scoreline is straightforward enough, but even that doesn’t do justice to how one sides the match is. Alc wins 66% of the points, while serving 45% of them
Alcs wins 73% of second serve points won (along with 89% of firsts) - a good deal higher than Zver’s 1st serve points of 61% (along with 25%). All this isn’t far short of double bagel territory of one sidedness
On Alcs side, he has power of his FH, which he couples with fine touch on the drop shot. And he serve-volleys a little to effectively counter-act Zver’s extreme backward returning position (not that he particularly needs to, he wins vast bulk of points playing from baseline too). When required, he’s very quick and good on the running shots (its not needed too often)
11 winners, 10 UEs and forcing 6 errors from Zver. Very good numbers, especially for clay. Done against weak opposition
The one things he does well against decent opposition is deal with high return. It’s a high bouncing court, so much so that Alcs’ own kick serves trouble the very tall and standing very far back Zver for height. The much shorter Alcs, standing considerably closer in to return likewise, faces troublingly high balls to return around his shoulders. An easy ball to return feebly, but Alcs manages to get decent force on the second shot
In just about all other ways, Zverev’s a disaster
- Returns poorly. Alcs has 37% unreturned rate, which is very high for clay (albeit, relatively quick clay) and would make a good figure for grass, let alone hard court. 7/13 of Zver’s return errors have been marked UEs - and the ones that haven’t aren’t too tough either. 63% return rate is poor enough, but even worse given Zver returning from as far back as he can, as is his way
- Poor of consistency of the ground. He’s got 16 ground UEs (Alcs has 10) for 1 ground winner 9Alcs has 9). Baseline rallies don’t get out of basics - just trading cc groundies, and it doesn’t take Zver long to miss. FH in particularly which has match high 12 UEs (Alcs FH is next with 7)
Alcs hits particularly well off FH, but hardly beat-down, pressuringly strong. Just Zver not being able to hit 3 FHs in a row in court. This includes the return - Alcs serves there 50% of the time and 8/13 return errors drawn are FHs
- Poor of shot tolerance and movement. Doesn’t take much to ‘force’ an error out of Zver. Some of his 6 FEs are more a product of slow movement to little more than firmly hit, slightly wide balls. Anything with a bit more pace is likely to draw error, anything a little wide the same
That comes to Zver outhit, outlasted and with little resistance of the ground. He can still take net (he’d better take net as he’s so far behind in all areas from the back)
He’s 3/13 at net. Has 4 UEs (including 2 OHs) to 2 winners (both OHs on the bounce). I think this is the worst percentage of net points won I’ve seen for anything over 10 approaches
On the non-disaster side of things, Zver doesn’t serve badly (at least, the first serve). Powerful stuff at 66% in. If the power is down from high norm, its too insignificant degree. Get good bounce. In line with his norm, not too wide with the placement. 3 aces from 31 first serves is a fair yield on clay and 28% unreturneds a good one
Alcs at times returns from almost as far back as Zver does to cope with it. More often, he’s further forwards - still comfily back by a normal standard. Normal strength returns from Alcs - more than enough to win points against the very poor playing Zver
Another thing Alcs does potentially well is keep on the pressure with powerful third ball FHs on his own serve, which would make it tough for Zver to move forward towards baseline to rally. Only potentially well because as readily as Zver gives up errors, it doesn’t need much to win rallies regardless
Poor second serving from Zver though. 5/16 of ‘em are double faults, the ones that aren’t are weak serves. He wins just 4 points - rallies springing from them are neutral, with Alcs not returning with particular heat
That’s about it. Well as Alc plays, room for him to shine is capped by how poor Zver is. Looks more like a tired showing than anything else
Match Progression
Things are normal enough upto 3-2, on serve in first set. Alcs has easier time holding serve - after missing a couple of FHs in opening game, doesn’t lose another point on serve, while conjuring a break point in between (on which he misses a regulation first return). Alcs serve-volleys a couple of times, finishing with drop volleys, Zver is loose of the ground and prone to missing routine groundies
Great game by Alcs to break to love for 4-2 - FH line forcing error, a drop shot Zver in + back-away FH inside-out passing winner combo and a blasted FH inside-out winner gets him to 0-40. Zver takes net and misses a slightly under net volley to complete the break
Nice BH cc winner from Zver from routine position awhile later. Turns out to be his only winner, save 2 OHs on the bounce at net. Alcs serves out to love, with Zver missing 2 routine second returns to end the set
Zver holds from 0-30 down to start the second, and that’s about it for him. Alcs wins 26 points to Zver’s 9 in reeling of the next 6 games to end the match
On top of already seen Alcs playing well, Zver not, Zver adds double faults into the mix. He’s got 4 in rest of match, including 2 in a row to end the match
Some good plays from Alcs left - drop shots and passes the pick of ‘em. A drop shot Zver in + BH lob winner play is probably the pick of them. He loses his only net point - a forced approach to deal with drop shot - which is curiously, his only non-serve-volley net point of the match too
On top of the doubles, Couple of particularly bad net errors from Zver in game 5 (swinging FHV and an OH he hits just shy of the bottom of the net on his side), amongst general poorness
Summing up, simple as can be. Alcaraz plays well (powerful FH, good touch on the drop shot, a bit of serve-volleying, good running shots when needed) , Zverev plays awfully (consistency, shot tolerance and movement on the baseline, including on the return, and if anything, even worse at net)
Good enough from Alcaraz to indicate him being a potential top clay courter. It takes a considerable showing to not let his opponents horrible one grab all the attention, and the winner manages that
It was Alcaraz’s first Masters title on clay and he became the first player to beat Rafael Nadal (quarter-final) and Novak Djokovic (semi-final) in the same event on the surface. He would go onto defend the title the following year. Zverev was the defending champion
Alcaraz won 56 points, Zverev 29
Serve Stats
Alcaraz...
- 1st serve percentage (27/38) 71%
- 1st serve points won (24/27) 89%
- 2nd serve points won (8/11) 73%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (14/38) 37%
Zverev...
- 1st serve percentage (31/47) 66%
- 1st serve points won (19/31) 61%
- 2nd serve points won (4/16) 25%
- Aces 3
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (13/47) 28%
Serve Pattern
Alcaraz served...
- to FH 50%
- to BH 47%
- to Body 3%
Zverev served...
- to FH 45%
- to BH 55%
Return Stats
Alcaraz made...
- 29 (17 FH, 12 BH), including 3 runaround FHs
- 10 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (4 FH, 1 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 5 Forced (2 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (29/42) 69%
Zverev made...
- 24 (11 FH, 13 BH)
- 13 Errors, comprising...
- 7 Unforced (3 FH, 4 BH)
- 6 Forced (5 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (24/38) 63%
Break Points
Alcaraz 4/8 (5 games)
Zverev 0
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Alcaraz 11 (7 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
Zverev 3 (1 BH, 2 OH)
Alcaraz' FHs - 1 cc, 1 dtl pass, 2 inside-out (1 pass), 1 inside-in, 2 drop shots
- BHs - 1 inside-out pass, 1 lob
- 2 from serve-volley points, a first volley FHV & a second volley BHV
Zverev's BH - 1 cc
- both OHs were on the bounce
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Alcaraz 13
- 10 Unforced (7 FH, 3 BH)
- 3 Forced (1 FH, 2 BH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46
Zverev 26
- 20 Unforced (12 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 2 OH)... with 1 swinging FHV
- 6 Forced (1 FH, 5 BH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Alcaraz was...
- 5/6 (83%) at with, including...
- 5/5 (100%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
Zverev was 3/13 (23%) at net
Match Report
Good showing by Alcaraz, a very weak one from Zverev along the lines of being tired and an easy result, QED. Court is quick for clay, though high of bounce
3 &1 scoreline is straightforward enough, but even that doesn’t do justice to how one sides the match is. Alc wins 66% of the points, while serving 45% of them
Alcs wins 73% of second serve points won (along with 89% of firsts) - a good deal higher than Zver’s 1st serve points of 61% (along with 25%). All this isn’t far short of double bagel territory of one sidedness
On Alcs side, he has power of his FH, which he couples with fine touch on the drop shot. And he serve-volleys a little to effectively counter-act Zver’s extreme backward returning position (not that he particularly needs to, he wins vast bulk of points playing from baseline too). When required, he’s very quick and good on the running shots (its not needed too often)
11 winners, 10 UEs and forcing 6 errors from Zver. Very good numbers, especially for clay. Done against weak opposition
The one things he does well against decent opposition is deal with high return. It’s a high bouncing court, so much so that Alcs’ own kick serves trouble the very tall and standing very far back Zver for height. The much shorter Alcs, standing considerably closer in to return likewise, faces troublingly high balls to return around his shoulders. An easy ball to return feebly, but Alcs manages to get decent force on the second shot
In just about all other ways, Zverev’s a disaster
- Returns poorly. Alcs has 37% unreturned rate, which is very high for clay (albeit, relatively quick clay) and would make a good figure for grass, let alone hard court. 7/13 of Zver’s return errors have been marked UEs - and the ones that haven’t aren’t too tough either. 63% return rate is poor enough, but even worse given Zver returning from as far back as he can, as is his way
- Poor of consistency of the ground. He’s got 16 ground UEs (Alcs has 10) for 1 ground winner 9Alcs has 9). Baseline rallies don’t get out of basics - just trading cc groundies, and it doesn’t take Zver long to miss. FH in particularly which has match high 12 UEs (Alcs FH is next with 7)
Alcs hits particularly well off FH, but hardly beat-down, pressuringly strong. Just Zver not being able to hit 3 FHs in a row in court. This includes the return - Alcs serves there 50% of the time and 8/13 return errors drawn are FHs
- Poor of shot tolerance and movement. Doesn’t take much to ‘force’ an error out of Zver. Some of his 6 FEs are more a product of slow movement to little more than firmly hit, slightly wide balls. Anything with a bit more pace is likely to draw error, anything a little wide the same
That comes to Zver outhit, outlasted and with little resistance of the ground. He can still take net (he’d better take net as he’s so far behind in all areas from the back)
He’s 3/13 at net. Has 4 UEs (including 2 OHs) to 2 winners (both OHs on the bounce). I think this is the worst percentage of net points won I’ve seen for anything over 10 approaches
On the non-disaster side of things, Zver doesn’t serve badly (at least, the first serve). Powerful stuff at 66% in. If the power is down from high norm, its too insignificant degree. Get good bounce. In line with his norm, not too wide with the placement. 3 aces from 31 first serves is a fair yield on clay and 28% unreturneds a good one
Alcs at times returns from almost as far back as Zver does to cope with it. More often, he’s further forwards - still comfily back by a normal standard. Normal strength returns from Alcs - more than enough to win points against the very poor playing Zver
Another thing Alcs does potentially well is keep on the pressure with powerful third ball FHs on his own serve, which would make it tough for Zver to move forward towards baseline to rally. Only potentially well because as readily as Zver gives up errors, it doesn’t need much to win rallies regardless
Poor second serving from Zver though. 5/16 of ‘em are double faults, the ones that aren’t are weak serves. He wins just 4 points - rallies springing from them are neutral, with Alcs not returning with particular heat
That’s about it. Well as Alc plays, room for him to shine is capped by how poor Zver is. Looks more like a tired showing than anything else
Match Progression
Things are normal enough upto 3-2, on serve in first set. Alcs has easier time holding serve - after missing a couple of FHs in opening game, doesn’t lose another point on serve, while conjuring a break point in between (on which he misses a regulation first return). Alcs serve-volleys a couple of times, finishing with drop volleys, Zver is loose of the ground and prone to missing routine groundies
Great game by Alcs to break to love for 4-2 - FH line forcing error, a drop shot Zver in + back-away FH inside-out passing winner combo and a blasted FH inside-out winner gets him to 0-40. Zver takes net and misses a slightly under net volley to complete the break
Nice BH cc winner from Zver from routine position awhile later. Turns out to be his only winner, save 2 OHs on the bounce at net. Alcs serves out to love, with Zver missing 2 routine second returns to end the set
Zver holds from 0-30 down to start the second, and that’s about it for him. Alcs wins 26 points to Zver’s 9 in reeling of the next 6 games to end the match
On top of already seen Alcs playing well, Zver not, Zver adds double faults into the mix. He’s got 4 in rest of match, including 2 in a row to end the match
Some good plays from Alcs left - drop shots and passes the pick of ‘em. A drop shot Zver in + BH lob winner play is probably the pick of them. He loses his only net point - a forced approach to deal with drop shot - which is curiously, his only non-serve-volley net point of the match too
On top of the doubles, Couple of particularly bad net errors from Zver in game 5 (swinging FHV and an OH he hits just shy of the bottom of the net on his side), amongst general poorness
Summing up, simple as can be. Alcaraz plays well (powerful FH, good touch on the drop shot, a bit of serve-volleying, good running shots when needed) , Zverev plays awfully (consistency, shot tolerance and movement on the baseline, including on the return, and if anything, even worse at net)
Good enough from Alcaraz to indicate him being a potential top clay courter. It takes a considerable showing to not let his opponents horrible one grab all the attention, and the winner manages that
