He will not see the last four of the ATP Masters. Carlos Alcaraz ended the group stage with a second defeat, against Alexander Zverev (7-6, 6-4), Friday November 15, synonymous with elimination. His ATP season ends with another indoor failure. Under these conditions, the Spaniard, current world No. 3 and winner of 16 career tournaments, has simply never won, nor even participated in an indoor final on the main circuit.
If we consider all the matches played in his young career, Carlos Alcaraz only has 59% of indoor victories (excluding Davis Cup and Laver Cup) reports Jeu, set et maths, specialist in tennis statistics. Outdoors, his success ratio on the circuit is 81%. Asked on Monday, after the defeat against Casper Ruud, about the reasons for this gap in performance, the person concerned highlighted his lack of experience in these playing conditions. “I’ve never played much indoors. I could practice as much as possible, it will never replace the fact that I don’t have many matches behind me”, he explained. While Jannik Sinner (23 years old) has already played 90 indoor court matches in his career, Carlos Alcaraz, 27 months younger, is only at 35.
Is the Spaniard’s game really incompatible with these conditions? For Arnaud Clément, consultant for franceinfo: sport, it is more a question of context than a problem linked to his tennis. “He played against a very good Zverev and there was a match. Against Ruud, he was apparently ill. He’s already made a lot of progress but it’s still a small area of improvement, but I’m talking about details that separate him from the very best.”puts the winner of the 2001 Davis Cup with the French team into perspective.
Playing on hard indoor means playing in the fastest conditions possible. “The conditions are perfect, with no sun or wind issues, so the quality of service is higher and this is an area where he can improve. His service is less stable than a Jannik Sinner. When he plays against this type of fast player, it is less suitable for the implementation of his game, his qualities as a defender and returner. He finds himself under pressure more often than on slow surfaces.analyzes Arnaud Clément.
However, this did not prevent the native of El Palmar from being crowned twice on the grass of Wimbledon, on a surface also favoring the best servers on the circuit. “This poses fewer problems for him, perhaps because his movement skills compensate. It’s harder to move on grass than on hard.”continues Clément.
According to our consultant, Carlos Alcaraz’s instinctive side can work against him when he plays on an indoor court. “In indoor, even more than on other surfaces, the first contract is to keep his serve. He knows how to do so many things that he imagines the winning shots each time and, at times, he takes too many risks and that puts him in difficulty a little more regularly on his serve. When we are in a moment where we have to tighten the game, we hit well, we are precise and we do not try to attempt incredible shots.notes Clément.
But this is all a matter of detail for our consultant. Nothing is irremediable for Carlos Alcaraz, who, for example, reached the semi-finals of the ATP Masters last year. He still has a few matches to play in these conditions before concluding his season. Alongside Rafael Nadal, he will participate with Spain in the Final 8 of the Davis Cup in Malaga from Tuesday.
