Aestheticsaboveallelse
Legend
Wtf did you read? Your response is for the opposite of what I said
What does Carlos need to improve to get back on top?
- Thread starter socallefty
- Start date
nolefam_2024
Talk Tennis Guru
Having a career like Zverev is unacceptable for carlos and jannick
Is it acceptable for rune ? It might be great career for all the players in ATP but not good enough for these young guys. They have ambition. They have confidence. Zverev couldn't win a single top 10 victory in slams until 2022 rg. He was 25 years old. In fact sinner beat him to score his first top 10 win as early as RG 20. And rune obviously has some wins of his own.
A
ALCARAZWON
Guest
Carlos could play more defensively and it would rack up the slams, because his winner rate is still going to be outstanding even if he tones down the aggression.
But Carlos would rather win slams the ultra aggressive way.
And the ultra aggressive way will probably win him about 10 Wimbledons, so I have no complaints even if it costs him some AO titles.
So in other words, Carlos doesn't need to improve anything, and only needs to avoid the injuries that hurt his chances in 2023.
But Carlos would rather win slams the ultra aggressive way.
And the ultra aggressive way will probably win him about 10 Wimbledons, so I have no complaints even if it costs him some AO titles.
So in other words, Carlos doesn't need to improve anything, and only needs to avoid the injuries that hurt his chances in 2023.
THUNDERVOLLEY
G.O.A.T.
Alcatraz is through growing. He should wear platform heels stuffed with paper towels.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
I keep reading here that Carlos is arrogant. What arrogant remarks has he ever made about the result of a tennis match or anything else? People here endlessly (and absurdly) claimed Roger was being arrogant when he said he was a "very talented player," as if there was ever the slightest doubt about that.
Alcaraz said after he won Wimbledon, "I know how good a player I am. I don't that's arrogance, but self confidence." Is that the supposed arrogant remark or something else? Maybe I missed some super arrogant interview he gave recently.
https://english.elpais.com/sports/2...hink-thats-arrogance-but-self-confidence.html
Vincent-C
Hall of Fame
Oh, I dunno: would calling onesself "Miracle" (then losing badly next round) during a recent Major fit the bill, or not?
Less talking / gesticulating / grunting and *doing a little bit of winning instead* would seem a good formula now for the Massively Hyped One (though that has quieted down considerably since his post-W disappearance from the back end of any tournament..)
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InsuranceMan
Hall of Fame
Needs to serve better and have an improved tactical understanding of the service game. Aside from that honestly speaking if we’re talking about a time span of one tournament, all he gotta do is lock in. But lock in all the way. We saw examples of that last year where he looked almost untouchable. Once he does, that combined with the recent motivation to get back to the drawing board a little and reanalyze his game, shot selection & shot tolerance will follow. We know the mental toughness is there, we know the tools + creativity package are there. 2 weeks, he simply just needs to really, really lock in.
Aside from that if he grew another 2-3 inches that’d be pretty swell
Aside from that if he grew another 2-3 inches that’d be pretty swell
InsuranceMan
Hall of Fame
Think it’s the comments on his rivalry vs Djokovic that make people think that
Alcawrath
Semi-Pro
I am a huge fan, but he's got to improve. He needs to work to fix his dropshot so that it's less predictable and more accurate. He needs to shore up his backhand shot tolerance, and he needs to continue working on his serve. However, all of these things need to happen through an intense inner drive to become dominant again. As a fan watching from the distance, this is complete conjecture, but it just doesn't look like Carlos approached the off-season like a madman possessed as ATGs Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic approached their careers.
duaneeo
Legend
Young phenom Nadal made the first of 4 consecutive RG finals at 19, and the first of 5 straight WB finals at 20. I call that sustained high level results across multiple surfaces.
Vincent-C
Hall of Fame
And some of us remember that Boris Becker had already won two consecutive Wimbledon Men's Singles titles at the ripe old age of.. eighteen.
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mental midget
Hall of Fame
less loop, more penetration on groundies, and bigger serve.
his creative swashbuckling game has taken him pretty far...rather than becoming a percentage player, which i don't think is in his nature, i think he should find ways to make his attacking game more lethal a la federer...flatten out that forehand a bit (less bolo finishes, more across the body), perfect the slice, and get a little more depth on the backhand. keep coming to net, maybe flatten out the serve a touch too.
his creative swashbuckling game has taken him pretty far...rather than becoming a percentage player, which i don't think is in his nature, i think he should find ways to make his attacking game more lethal a la federer...flatten out that forehand a bit (less bolo finishes, more across the body), perfect the slice, and get a little more depth on the backhand. keep coming to net, maybe flatten out the serve a touch too.
Vincent-C
Hall of Fame
I think he's too tiny for that approach (that's not a troll, especially).
Al-karaz's 2024 is of substantial interest to me, and my present thinking on it
could be Wrong.
nolefam_2024
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes tiny
mental midget
Hall of Fame
good call. he's in the mix as it is, and his athleticism and creativity are absolutely top-notch already. excited to see him on the clay and grass this year.
THUNDERVOLLEY
G.O.A.T.
Yes--before his majors spiral beginning at the 2023 USO, he was inhaling the fumes of the unwarranted hype, and after he failed to defend his USO title and his performance at this year's AO, one would think he would begin to see hype does not translate into results at the majors, but then, he's referring to himself as a "Miracle", so I suppose he's still inhaling it deeply.
Finally--historical clarity. To refer to Alcaraz as a "phenom" at his age is patently false and exaggerating this man to extreme degrees, made obvious by ignoring your timely historical reference about Becker--one of the sport's most famous players' feat at an earlier age.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Short guys peak early.
Vincent-C
Hall of Fame
A decent hypothesis! Hewitt and Chang gave a lotta people a lot of trouble
over some time, though. Maybe Al-karaz can find a way to do that, too.
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Fintft
G.O.A.T.
Even being over confident (as shown by him on the court plus lack of prep) can be detrimental and was, imo.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
He jokingly said, "my name is miracle." Big difference. And being massively hyped is not arrogance. The grunt is awful but it's not arrogant to do it.
https://todaytimeslive.com/sports/481488.html
But a couple of social media outlets hyped a successful young player (Jannik also is getting it but I'll ignore it zzz) for hits. Hence I must be vengeful against said successful young player even if I can easily ignore clickbait content on x.com should I choose.
Also what? He clearly tried to be funny in an interview through the means of his broken English? That's pretty much scandalous and it's the equivalent of doping too. Carlos must shed any attempts at being charismatic even if it seems to work for the most part.
ian10Strainer
New User
What I observe as a teaching pro for over 40 years that drives me crazy with Alcaraz is his positioning after he serves. He seems to take too much time after serviing to get back behind the baseline., He often gets caught with a ball at his foot after a decent return and is in defense at the start of the point. So he has to work hard to get back to neutral in the point. Also I think like for every player, improving one's serve is always a priority. Free points while you are serving and getting out of trouble is a hallmark of the great players. He is a beautiful blend of the Top 3 in terms of his defense (Djokovic), his passion and drive (Nadal) and the beauty of his offensive game (Federer). I am looking forward to see how he develops and hope he stays healthy during his career.
SeeingDusk
Hall of Fame
Needs a better serve and to be more consistent. He still slaps shots out randomly more than he should. Needs to clean up those errors.
Also I feel that Carlos gets too excited at times and hits everything hard. He can work on controlled aggression.
Also I feel that Carlos gets too excited at times and hits everything hard. He can work on controlled aggression.
ChrisJR3264
Hall of Fame
His play style is abusive to his own body. I read last year he has some form of arthritis already in his arm. Not good at 20-21 years old.
Tweener
Semi-Pro
I'm not sure if you interpreted my comment as disparaging Nadal for how great he was at such a young age, but that was not the point I was making. I was referring to how hard it is to just start winning multiple slams per year at that age, and even Nadal at that age did not WIN multiple slams per year. Carlos similarly showed remarkable consistency and results at a young age. He won Masters 1000 titles on clay and hard courts at 18 years old, winning his first USO shortly after turning 19. Then, after an injury, he came back last year and held one of the highest winning percentages in a season as a 19-20 year old including additional 1000 titles on clay and hard courts and a clean sweep on grass including Wimbledon.
Somehow not winning or reaching finals in every slam he's played at this age is considered a failure on here, and that's precisely what I was getting at - it's ridiculous. 22-23 years old is typically the time when all of the goats have start consistently winning slams across different surfaces, and he still has 2-3 years to reach that standard.
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Legend
Yea sounds like he has too many issues to me...
I'm sure there are technical adjustments he could make, especially to the forehand, but without opening that can of worms, I'll agree with the consensus that he just needs to play with a bit more patience and tactical intent. He needs to build points more methodically sometimes, and even occasionally just bear down and outlast the guy.
There's a stat I find encouraging here: When he reaches a fifth set, Alcaraz makes, on average, 10% fewer unforced errors than he did in the first four sets. That's the same as Djokovic and well above other top players. In short, he goes into lockdown mode. He hasn't played a ton of five-setters so maybe it's not as meaningful as it seems at first, but still – he seems to be able to enter a gear where he can avoid making undue unforced errors. He just needs to find that gear faster when he runs into a match like the one against Zverev. There's simply no excuse for the number and type of errors he was making in the first two sets. He can outmaneuver Zverev in the long term, over a best-of-five set match (especially considering how tentative Zverev almost always gets as a match wears on). It shouldn't take a slam final or a fifth set to bring out Alcaraz's eagle eye.
There's a stat I find encouraging here: When he reaches a fifth set, Alcaraz makes, on average, 10% fewer unforced errors than he did in the first four sets. That's the same as Djokovic and well above other top players. In short, he goes into lockdown mode. He hasn't played a ton of five-setters so maybe it's not as meaningful as it seems at first, but still – he seems to be able to enter a gear where he can avoid making undue unforced errors. He just needs to find that gear faster when he runs into a match like the one against Zverev. There's simply no excuse for the number and type of errors he was making in the first two sets. He can outmaneuver Zverev in the long term, over a best-of-five set match (especially considering how tentative Zverev almost always gets as a match wears on). It shouldn't take a slam final or a fifth set to bring out Alcaraz's eagle eye.
duaneeo
Legend
That's not what you initially said. You said "it takes time to build consistency and experience for sustained high level results across multiple surfaces". Nadal is not an example.
Tweener
Semi-Pro
You're missing the context of the entire initial post in which I referenced Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer. Nadal was clearly the earliest bloomer and one of the best 17-19 year old male players of all time, if not the best. But he still was only dominant on clay until a few years into his pro career. He was very competitive on all surfaces, but his results outside of clay were nothing like what they eventually became into his 20s and beyond.
By the time he reached Alcaraz's current age, he had fewer wins off of clay but more on clay, and his career winning percentage was comparable. The point I was making was not that either Carlos or Rafa were bad at this stage of their careers. The opposite is the case. However, some folks on here tend to have some serious recency bias and act like Carlos is a mug or somehow inconsistent in his career so far just because he hasn't won much in the past few months. He's not winning or reaching major finals as consistently as Rafa, Novak, and Roger did AFTER they all turned 22-23, but he's still only 20. None of the big 3 were as good at 20 as they were at 22+. That's the point I was making. By the age of 20, I would rank the overall sustained high level results across multiple surfaces as follows: 1) Rafa, 2) Carlos, 3) Novak, 4) Roger. I'd say that's pretty good for small Carlos!
Thanks for this. I knew with certainty of having watched him so many times that he indeed possesses a robust lockdown mode. It's also why matches like the Zverev one annoy me. He is embarassed to not be a showman. But yes thanks for this as there is a stat that confirm my observation.
Carlos is the ultimate hater of pushers including himself when he pushes, it seems.
duaneeo
Legend
We agree to disagree, as I consider losing only to peak Roger Federer at Wimbledon from age 20 to age 24 as being dominant on grass.
Nadal surely wasn't dominant "beyond" his early 20s...losing to Djokovic, Rosol, Darcis, Kyrgios, and Brown from age 25-29.
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
All good points but wasn't Rafa 22 when he won Wimbledon 2008? Not that it really matters
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
"Dominant on grass" implies grass is a major part of the schedule. The "grass season" is a joke, one 500 tuneup for the top guys and then Wimbledon.
MaluTapiMau
Rookie
maybe less showboating
Aestheticsaboveallelse
Legend
Less impatience in going for shots. He just goes for winners way too much when he shouldn't I guess
jackson vile
G.O.A.T.
I thought he was supposed to be the new instant GOAT and he was going win 30 slams in one year?
He needs to get his mental faculties in alignment like Sinner did until he almost lost in straight sets in the final
He needs to get his mental faculties in alignment like Sinner did until he almost lost in straight sets in the final
Krish0608
G.O.A.T.
Play percentage tennis and serve better. Kill the drop shot. That's meant as an element of surprise and has outlived it's effectiveness. And he also needs to not buy into his own hype. It's of course legit, but his focus should be on tennis and tennis only. Right now it just seems that he is way too distracted.
Exactly. The Zverev match could have been much different had Carlos not borderline treated it as a fun video game.
I don't worry much because he's had better moments in shot selection before. I do not doubt for a second that he will put it all together soon enough -- and by that I mean marrying his penchant for the droppers with a wise resistance to it when the situation calls for it more often than otherwise.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
I guess he needs his coach on the sideline to constantly tell him to curb his aggression when he is losing or locked in a tight set against a good player. When Alcaraz is in lockdown mode, he is tough to beat as he has bigger weapons than everyone else anyway except for the serve. Too often he goes into UFE-spraying mode when he is a break down and loses sets even quicker.
NeutralFan
G.O.A.T.
He was not overrated and i cheered his victory at sw19 harder than you did but it's true that he has peaked already and hit his celiing.it hurts but it is what it is
No.
NeutralFan
G.O.A.T.
What no?
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