Carlos Alcaraz’s serve comes of age as he eyes maiden Australian Open title | Tennis News
Melbourne: Carlos Alcaraz has won 54 of his 59 service games en route to the Australian Open quarterfinals, a return bettered among the top-five only by 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, the very player whose serving efficiency the 22-year-old has sought to emulate.Djokovic, clinical on his serve, has claimed 39 of 42 service games across the three rounds he has contested at Melbourne Park.Alcaraz, as dynamic as he is destructive off the ground, was broken early in his fourth-round clash against American Tommy Paul on Sunday, but quickly regained control, overcoming the 19th seed 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 to reach his third successive quarterfinal at the tournament.The Spaniard, bidding to become the youngest man in history to complete a career Grand Slam as he chases his maiden Australian Open title, has spent the past few months, particularly during the off-season, working on his serve. The focus has been on smoothing his service action, reducing gaps in the motion and creating a more continuous, flowing movement from toss to contact.“He doesn’t hit the fastest serve, but it is super accurate. It is really, really difficult to read,” Alcaraz said of Djokovic’s serve. “He plays it really close to the lines, and his ball is like a sleeper. It is really difficult to see and return. That is what makes his serve a really good one. Sometimes you’ve got to go for precision more than speed.”Alcaraz, whose first serve in the tournament has been clocked between 130-111 mph and second serve at 118-102, while the 38-year-old Djokovic is marginally slower on the first delivery at 124-117 mph. Interestingly, the two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner’s first serve is between 125-111 mph, but in the three rounds he has played so far, the Italian has sent down 41 aces, almost double that of the world No.1.Alcaraz, who enjoyed his most successful year in the sport last year, has been working on his serve for a while.“I think everyone has to make changes, small details. For me the serve is something that I really want to be better every year, in every tournament. I constantly work on the serve,” he said. “I’m just changing the movement a little bit. Now I feel really, really comfortable, I have a smooth, peaceful rhythm.” Djokovic was quick on the buzzer.“As soon as I saw it, I sent Carlos a message,” Djokovic said of Alcaraz’s new, improved motion. “I said, we have to speak about the copyrights. Then when I saw him here (in Australia), I told him we have to talk about the percentage of his winnings.”The Spaniard pointed out that he likes to tinker with the motion on a daily basis. “I don’t take too long,” he said of his play adapting to a new motion. “The good thing about the rhythm on my serve right now is that when I think I’m doing the wrong thing, I just go back to keeping it simple, and that helps a lot.”Next up for Alcaraz in the last eight on Tuesday is home hope Alex De Minaur, the sixth seed, against whom he has lost no more than a couple of sets in five meetings.Meanwhile, American Learner Tien came out strong against three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev to score a 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 win and become the youngest men’s singles quarter-finalist at the opening major of the season since Nick Kyrgios in 2015.The 20-year-old’s victory marked the latest chapter in a rapidly developing rivalry. Twelve months ago in Melbourne, then ranked 121 in the world and having worked his way through the qualifiers, Tien stunned Medvedev in a second-round epic. Tien, the youngest American to reach the quarter-finals at a major since 2002, will go up against the third seed Alexander Zverev in the last eight.
