Alcaraz: Hitching Spanish grit to breathtaking flair

He was down 0-30 the next game—he dished out two errors trying to consolidate after the break and get to within a game from the title. You’d think for a 19-year-old inching closer to the finish line, something had to give. Two aces and a forehand down-the-line winner later, Alcaraz held.

Up 30-0 serving for the match, he missed a straightforward putaway shot near the net. You’d think for the teenager staring at the finish line, something had to give. An ace, a long forehand and a booming unreturned serve later, Alcaraz held.

This time it was for the US Open championship, in his first Grand Slam final.

VERSATILE PLAYER

The young Spaniard beat Norwegian Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 in a final where, like all through the year-ending Slam, Alcaraz put on an exhibition of skills, fitness and mental toughness that portrayed less of his age and instead more of the things that are likely to come from the freshly minted world No 1 and potential superstar. His qualities mirrored the resilience of compatriots–coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, Rafa Nadal and Carlos Moya.

That did not waver drastically even in the biggest match of his career lasting three hours and 20 minutes, coming after three consecutive five-set tussles that dragged on for three hours, 54 minutes, 5:15 and 4:19 and had him claw back from breaks down, sets down and a match point down. It cumulatively swelled his playing time to 23 hours and 40 minutes across the seven matches in the fortnight, pushing the envelope on his endurance and a resolute mindset.

“No time to be tired,” Alcaraz repeated, after it had all finally ended.

That wasn’t the case a year back. Alcaraz’s first big bang on the Slam stage came in the last edition of the US Open as he marched into the quarter-finals. It however ended in a whimper. He pulled the plug four games into the second set of his quarter-final against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime after slogging it out for five sets back-to-back against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Peter Gojowczyk.

The threshold would again be tested at Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz coming out roaring this time instead of retiring. “I overcame myself a little bit (at this US Open),” Alcaraz said. “I played great matches, high intensity during the two weeks that I’ve never done before.”

DRAINING FIVE-SETTERS

There were moments against Ruud—he was playing his second Slam final after losing to Rafael Nadal at the French Open—when the overtime Alcaraz had worked to get there appeared to be catching up on the young mind and body. Alcaraz though wasn’t to be stopped, even against an opponent who simply refused to walk away. Ruud though would probably rue his running into two Spaniards at the opposite ends of their careers at the very end in his bid for Slam glory.

Ever so efficient at the net, Alcaraz was swift in his court coverage—sideways and vertically—as he struck the first blow in the opening set where Ruud needed to put together a bunch of outrageous shots to eke out a solitary winner. Some of the rallies were met with lengthy applause from the crowd, and so did Ruud’s sportsmanship as he conceded a point to Alcaraz by acknowledging that the ball had bounced twice before he lunged and got to it at the net.

The 23-year-old Ruud’s tennis too would soon evoke awe. He frequently won the more reel-worthy rallies—drops, lobs and volleys to finish off at the net. Ruud earned the break in the fourth game of the second set in which he executed another wonderful lob sprinting down to reach a drop shot.

In a rare sight in the tournament, the body language of Alcarez that had exuded positivity until the final began indicating negativity; a prolonged yell at his box after netting a second serve, for instance. And muttering to himself as he went back to his chair. It affected his game: unusual groundstroke errors, two double faults as he failed to hold serve again, untimely and ineffective drop shots.

TIDE TURNING

Until one near-perfect drop in the opening game of the third set got Alcaraz up and running again, both in terms of the scoreline and attitude. Ruud was still looking the fresher, faster and more energetic player while the two trade early breaks. In the next game after a tough hold for 5-4, Ruud had a couple of set points which Alcaraz saved by attacking the net. It showed his courage despite the tactic not having paid off a few times earlier. The level of the match reached its crescendo; Ruud’s ferocious forehand shots were dealt with the Alcaraz antidote of touch at the net, volleys, drops and tweeners.

The Norwegian though couldn’t keep his high level going in the crucial tiebreaker, which was littered with four unforced errors from his racquet after an opening ace. That was the only point he won in a tiebreak he probably should have controlled, handing the momentum back to the boisterous teenager, who took the fourth set. Another key aspect worked for Alcaraz all through, his 61% groundstrokes were run-around forehands to counter Ruud attacking his backhand.

Alcaraz duly rode the fresh momentum on the home stretch, entering a hitherto unexplored territory he may well have to get accustomed to ruling soon.