Carlos Alcaraz Is Bending Tennis to His Will and Taking Over the Game

“The talk of our sport for the last two years, and, of course, deservedly because he has done things that probably no other, you know, teenager has ever done,” Djokovic mentioned of Alcaraz throughout an interview final week.

Beyond all of the accolades and the eye, Alcaraz is forcing the very best gamers on the earth right into a satan’s selection — to alter how they’ve educated to play for years and adapt to him, or to probably spend a lot of the subsequent decade or extra smothered by an athlete who performs on each inch of his facet of the web and tries to hit balls to each inch of his opponent’s.

“There’s lots of power, not a lot of weaknesses, but also the all-court game, and the transition from neutral or defensive to offense is so quick,” mentioned David Nainkin, who leads participant growth for the United States Tennis Association. “And now every player knows if he is going to compete with him, he’s going to have to do that as well.”

Alcaraz is aware of that higher than anybody. He has mentioned his objective, together with profitable as typically as potential, is to entertain and thrill the spectators who pack stadiums for his matches, which have additionally despatched tv rankings hovering. Winning effectively just isn’t sufficient. He desires to win spectacularly, showcasing his energy and pace and contact from in every single place on the courtroom.

“It’s dynamic,” Alcaraz has mentioned again and again of his type.

For years, this was the type of shift that may occur each half-decade or so, although for roughly the final 15 years, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and, for some time, Andy Murray turned the game into an unique scrum of ability and wit. Each took a flip or two redrawing the tennis courtroom to swimsuit his type. First got here Federer’s supreme and unmatched shotmaking, which bumped into Nadal’s energy and aggressive hearth, which bumped into Djokovic’s relentless protection and angular creativity, which bumped into Murray’s magical contact and motion.