What is actually Alcaraz's best surface?

Best to worst surface for Alcaraz?

  • Total voters
    122
Mike Sams said:
Actually the big 3 have all lost or been stretched to 5 sets against serve bots at one time or another in the majors and Masters. Kevin Anderson, Isner, and Karlovic have often made things very uncomfortable even for the legends.
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Yes very true.

The big servers have been pushing the top ranked guys for a long time. Last nights match proved that, granted Alcaraz got a little too cute with drop shots in the 3rd, but once Hurkacz got close, the pressure to hold serve was mounting. When those big servers get going, they can win any match.
 
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The fact that he was able to beat a grass-court player who is leagues better than the rest of the field, tells me that grass will become a very strong surface for him going forward, as he's only going to get better. So, I vote for grass>hard>clay, as the red stuff will hamper his proven ability to drive missiles through the court from either wing, putting players on their backfoot. However, he's so used to sliding on clay and with his multitude of shot options I think he'll win RG at least once, maybe two or three times.
 
Torben said:
Yes very true.

The big servers have been pushing the top ranked guys for a long time. Last nights match proved that, granted Alcaraz got a little too cute with drop shots in the 3rd, but once Hircazc got close, the pressure to hold serve was mounting. When those big servers get going, they can win any match.
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Yeah, I remember all too well John Isner winning Miami Masters in 2018, stretching Nadal to 5 sets in Paris, beating Djokovic in both Indian Wells and Cincinnatti, and even getting some wins over Federer. Kevin Anderson, same thing. Stretched Djokovic to 5 at Wimbledon, beat Federer at Wimbledon too. Even Karlovic is tough to beat at times. Many of his losses are third set tiebreakers. It's like blink once and you lose the set against any of these serve monsters.
 
Mike Sams said:
Yeah, I remember all too well John Isner winning Miami Masters in 2018, stretching Nadal to 5 sets in Paris, beating Djokovic in both Indian Wells and Cincinnatti, and even getting some wins over Federer. Kevin Anderson, same thing. Stretched Djokovic to 5 at Wimbledon, beat Federer at Wimbledon too. Even Karlovic is tough to beat at times. Many of his losses are third set tiebreakers. It's like blink once and you lose the set against any of these serve monsters.
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Absolutely!

The list goes on and on...
 
Torben said:
Absolutely!

The list goes on and on...
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I think probably Hurcakz deserves more respect. Not sure I'd classify him entirely in the serve bot category. His Wimbledon run was underappreciated. If Djokovic had even been slightly off in those tiebreakers, that could've been Hurcakz's day.
 
Interesting question. As others have said, CA is at the start of his career, so any meaningful answer is unlikely. Furthermore, his astonishing ability to evolve and adapt is self-evident from his results on grass this year. Given the current evidence, he seems to be able to excel an all surfaces. Time will tell which (if any) is his 'best' surface. Many pundits say he is an excellent all surface player, and the evidence to date, seems to bear this out. This summary of his title wins in 2021/2022 /2023 (to date) certainly suggests it to be so.

3 Hard Court Titles of which 1 is a Grand Slam and 2 are Masters 10007 Clay Court Titles of which 2 are Masters 1000.
3 Clay Court finals		2 Grass Court Titles of which 1 is a Grand Slam
 
Mike Sams said:
I think probably Hurcakz deserves more respect. Not sure I'd classify him entirely in the serve bot category. His Wimbledon run was underappreciated. If Djokovic had even been slightly off in those tiebreakers, that could've been Hurcakz's day.
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Agree.

Hurkacz is no Edberg or McEnroe but is a competent enough volleyer in his own right. It only takes a mistake or two and you lose at set against guys like Hurcakz.

Those big servers sure liven the game up.
 
HazBeen18 said:
The fact that he was able to beat a grass-court player who is leagues better than the rest of the field, tells me that grass will become a very strong surface for him going forward, as he's only going to get better. So, I vote for grass>hard>clay, as the red stuff will hamper his proven ability to drive missiles through the court from either wing, putting players on their backfoot. However, he's so used to sliding on clay and with his multitude of shot options I think he'll win RG at least once, maybe two or three times.
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Carlos Will win RG at least 5 times
 
Too early to tell but for now Grass > Hard > Clay, especially after taking out Novak on grass. I think he's gonna have 10 slams at each surface for 30 slams.
 
I would evaluate where is Alcaraz hardest to beat for the field. IMO it is hard, grass and then clay.

I know many believe clay would be his best surface. While his foot speed, defence does shine on clay, I think his shot making is more effective on hard courts and grass. He is prone to errors when made to play numerous extra shots and that will happen more frequently on clay. Also he is an agressive shot maker who likes to hit through players and doesn't play much angled shots. This strategy is less effective on clay.

I have always found him more vulnerable on clay as compared to faster courts. Though the way he is improving he may just become unbeatable in all 3 surfaces for a while.
 
I’m surprised that Grass > Clay > Hard has only 2 votes. I thought it would be the runaway favourite answer.

The 2024 Wimbledon Final really sealed this debate.

And then he lost (to the same person he demolished in the Wimbledon final) in a clay Olympics.

Grass is clear.

And Hard is also clearly the worst.
 
MHI said:
I’m surprised that Grass > Clay > Hard has only 2 votes. I thought it would be the runaway favourite answer.

The 2024 Wimbledon Final really sealed this debate.

And then he lost (to the same person he demolished in the Wimbledon final) in a clay Olympics.

Grass is clear.

And Hard is also clearly the worst.
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This thread was made before he won 2024 Wimb to be fair, his 2023 results on grass was a surprise to everyone

I think there's enough evidence now that it's grass > clay > hard
 
Tennis fans know absolutely nothing. They take some 19 year old dude and extrapolate based on his results as a teenager.

This shows the fans are mostly clueless.
 
What I am saying is , most tennis fans don't understand a thing. It's true and if it hurts anyone , it should.

Be more open , wait and have patience and you will have far better opinions.
 
I still think Clay is his worst surface. He just got lucky to win 2 french open playing HC/grass tennis
 
2 years now since the poll was created I think most people would now answer:

Grass>Clay>Hard.

Too bad the grass season is so short and has no masters level event as Alcaraz could stack up many more titles on grass.
 
against non-Djokovic opponents it’s clay > grass > outdoor hard > indoor hard.

But given how large Djokovic’s presence has loomed I’d say it’s been grass > clay > outdoor hard > indoor hard
 
Daniel Andrade said:
@Third Serve

What was your opinion of this in 2023?
And now?
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At the time I voted hard > grass > clay. This was before Alc won RG so that seemed the appropriate pecking order.

Now it’s a bit more confusing since we’ve had multiple years now where he’s performed relatively poorly in the post-Wimbledon HC season.

I wonder if it might be more appropriate to split up hard courts into fast and slow for the sake of this comparison? At IW and Miami he’s put up performances that rival his best clay runs, but he’s not very good indoors and his U.S. Open results over the last couple of years have been a little disappointing.

Wimbledon 2024 changed my opinion on grass. I’m still pretty impressed by that final, especially in light of Alcaraz’s underperformances against Djokovic on other surfaces.

Other than grass at the top I don’t know what the appropriate ranking would be.
 
I’ll go with grass given his record breaking winning percentage. I still get a kick out of his comment a few years ago when he started doing well on grass and won Queens. He said he just watched some YouTube videos about how to move on grass. He’s a natural.
 
nolefam_2024 said:
What I am saying is , most tennis fans don't understand a thing. It's true and if it hurts anyone , it should.

Be more open , wait and have patience and you will have far better opinions.
Click to expand...
And you know more than everyone else because you're special, of course. Cool story, bro.

clown-nose.gif
 
Third Serve said:
At the time I voted hard > grass > clay. This was before Alc won RG so that seemed the appropriate pecking order.

Now it’s a bit more confusing since we’ve had multiple years now where he’s performed relatively poorly in the post-Wimbledon HC season.

I wonder if it might be more appropriate to split up hard courts into fast and slow for the sake of this comparison? At IW and Miami he’s put up performances that rival his best clay runs, but he’s not very good indoors and his U.S. Open results over the last couple of years have been a little disappointing.

Wimbledon 2024 changed my opinion on grass. I’m still pretty impressed by that final, especially in light of Alcaraz’s underperformances against Djokovic on other surfaces.

Other than grass at the top I don’t know what the appropriate ranking would be.
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Still super funny that was his first Slam.
 
He is decent on all but he isn't particularly great on any. Tough hard is by far the worst one where he really isn't better than everyone else in the field, in fact he falls behind many there.
 
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