Carlos Alcaraz’s Laver Cup heroics banished a big myth he helped to promote
“I feel like I am not at his level in indoor court.” – Carlos Alcaraz, November 2023.
The words of Carlos Alcaraz after he was comfortably beaten 6-3 6-2 by Novak Djokovic at last year’s ATP Finals in Turin may need to be revised after the events at the Laver Cup.
Roll the clock back to last November and Alcaraz was in a very different place with his confidence on indoor hard courts after a series of comprehensive defeats against Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov, before he was stunned by Roman Safiullin at the Paris Masters.
After losing against Alexander Zverev and Djokovic at the ATP Finals, he offered up an honest assessment of where he felt his game compared to the best in the game on an indoor surface.
“I feel like I am not at his level in indoor court, obviously,” said Alcaraz as he spoke about Djokovic after his comprehensive loss in Turin.
“I’ve played great matches in Wimbledon, in Cincinnati, in Roland Garros. I felt in that match that I’m at the level. Obviously, he has more experience than me playing in these tournaments, in these courts.”
Now, just under a year later, those words seem outdated.
Alcaraz’s magnificent year has included wins at the French Open and Wimbledon, but he must have headed into this phase of the years with some doubts in his mind given his lack of confidence on indoor hard courts.
A shock US Open defeat against Dutchman Botic van De Zandschulp inspired some observers to suggest a jaded Alcaraz could consider ending his season early and coming back revived for another challenge next year.
Yet he has confirmed that there is still plenty left for him to chase over the next few weeks by guiding Spain to the Davis Cup Finals with some fine displays in front of his adoring home fans last week.
That was before he took centre stage at the Laver Cup, securing victory for Team Europe with a brilliant performance against Taylor Fritz in the decisive singles match.
Carlos Alcaraz News
Laver Cup Winners & Losers: Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton star – but Daniil Medvedev struggles
Carlos Alcaraz makes ‘kill us’ comment as he reveals motivation issues
Fritz’s big serve and power-packed game is well suited to indoor courts, but he was no match for Alcaraz, who blew him away with a display of brilliance that included a host of perfectly executed drop shots.
“Obviously we came here with a goal, all of us, to win the Laver Cup,” said Alcaraz.
“I think we are really happy about reaching our goal. I think all of us did pretty good work over the days.
“It’s been a really tough one, we almost lost. But Sascha (Zverev) came with really good tennis and gave me the chance to win the cup. So we are really happy with everything.”
While the Laver Cup is an officially sanctioned event by the ATP Tour, it is essentially an exhibition event, so it lacks some of the significance of next month’s ATP 1000 event in Shanghai.
Alcaraz’s performance in that event, as well at the Paris Masters and ATP Finals in Turin may give us a better indication of where he is at in his development on indoor hard courts.
Yet the evidence from Berlin offered a compelling picture of a player who has found a way to make his game work on what was a slow indoor court.
Alcaraz’s under-rated first serve, the depth of his shot and his ability to play his best tennis on the most important points were too much for Team World’s Ben Shelton and Fritz.
His potential clashes with world No 1 Sinner and indoor master Djokovic may still be the biggest challenge Alcaraz will face on an indoor court.
Yet the Spaniard will head to China for his next tournament daring to believe he has cracked the code to win matches against top-class opponents on his least favourite surface.
This kid is a remarkably fast learner and the four Grand Slam titles he has in his collection at the age of 21 confirm as much.
Now he will be looking to add some indoor silverware to his collection over the final phase of 2024.
