Carlos Alcaraz warned he needs to change if he wants to beat Novak Djokovic and win Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz has been told that he needs to alter one aspect of his game if he wants to stand any chance of beating Novak Djokovic and win Wimbledon.
The world No 1 continued his quest for a maiden title at SW19 on Friday as he secured a three-set victory over world No 84 Alexandre Muller in the second round.
A 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 scoreline suggests it was a straightforward victory for the Spaniard, but of concern will be the 41 unforced errors he committed during the two-hour and 35-minute encounter.
Alcaraz is known for playing risky tennis so it is not too big a surprise and he is unlikely to be punished by the lower-ranked players, but former world No 1 Mats Wilander warned that it will become problematic when he faces the seeded players.
“That is the key moment for me too because suddenly he decided: ‘okay, I’m not missing. I don’t want to go one set all. I’m going to play within myself’”, the seven-time Grand Slam winner said during a Eurosport broadcast.
“And I think, unfortunately, the way forward for him is going to be to play a little more within himself and not take too many risks because you can’t make that many unforced errors if you’re going to win Wimbledon and beat Novak Djokovic along the way.
“But of course, the people love it. He loves it. I love it. So hopefully he doesn’t change too much but keeps winning.”
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Alcaraz, who will be back in action on Saturday as he will take on Nicolas Jarry for a place in the round of 16, committed only 14 unforced errors during his opening-round win against Jeremy Chardy and that match took place under the roof.
His clash against Muller was under an open roof and Wilander explained the different dynamics.
“I think there is a combination of about four or five things,” the Swede said. “I think, first, Alexandra Muller is a great ball striker and if you let him dictate then he’s going to be very difficult. And I can’t believe he’s just broken into the top 100 because he’s a good player and I think we’re going to see much more from him.
“I saw the stat of Carlos Alcaraz’s forehand – it’s 10 kilometres slower today and 10% less spin rate than the other night when he played Jeremy Chardy under the roof.
“So under the roof tells me that it’s heavier, they’re hitting the ball harder because it doesn’t fly as much. And today, most probably with the heat, the balls are flying, and then he gets a little bit scared and then he doesn’t hit it this hard, but obviously there’s a lot of winners as well.
“So, I think that he has to work on that a little bit. It’s tough when you can’t spin the ball as much as you want to and I think on grass that’s one of the big adjustments that you have to make because it is not as easy I don’t think.”
