He’s a fast learner, that Carlos Alcaraz. Two days after struggling to decipher the peculiar cadences of lawn tennis in his opening match at Queen’s, he raced into his first grass court quarter-final of his career with a whip-smart 6-2, 6-3 over Jiri Lehecka.
Yet even after his 85-minute victory, the 20-year-old Spaniard was keen to further his education. For moments after stepping off Centre Court he made his way to practice court No 7 to put more work into his game – and his movement – for another 45 minutes.
As Alcaraz later revealed, he had been spending his spare time watching videos of Andy Murray and Roger Federer to learn how to play on grass and was keen to apply the lessons he had learned.
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“I have a lot of time to watch videos, to learn from the best players in the world: Andy, Roger and Novak Djokovic,” he said. “Right now we are on grass and I want to look up to the best players on grass and movers.”
That, it transpired, did not include Djokovic when it came to the green stuff. “For me Roger and Andy are the best players that are moving great on grass,” added Alcaraz. “So I want to be the same. I’m not talking about Djokovic because he slides, like on clay court, and not my case. But I try to put similar stuff in my game that Roger and Andy do in grass.”
Alcaraz, who will play Grigor Dimitrov in Friday’s quarter-finals, did not look entirely comfortable in the first set against Lehecka, and in successive games he hit during the first set he hit drop shots that did not even reach the net. But it was not long before he began to dominate his opponent. After breaking the Czech at the start of the second set following a muscular forehand winner and successive passing returns, he never looked back.
“You have to be more focused on the footwork here,” said Alcaraz, who hit 21 winners to just seven unforced errors. “Moving on grass is the key to everything on grass. I can’t slide as I do on clay or on a hard court.
“I played great. I’m really happy with my performance, and I feel really comfortable on grass, but I can be better.”
Home interest in the quarter-finals rests on Cameron Norrie, the British No 1, who faces an intriguing clash with 22-year-old Sebastian Korda. The American could yet prove to be the real deal and his height and vicious serve makes him a real danger here, but he is on the comeback trail having suffered a wrist injury after reaching his first grand slam quarter-final at the Australian Open in January.
That left the American unable to play for three months and he has also suffered with foot problems. However, he appears to be reaping the benefits of working with Jez Green, a strength and conditioning expert who spent seven years with Andy Murray, during his comeback.
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“We did seven or eight good weeks, probably the longest block that I or Jez have ever done in our lives,” Korda said. “It was a lot of fun.”
He added: “I have gained a few kilos since Australia and grown into my body. I was very skinny, very tall. The more matches I play, the more difficult, more sore here and there, but I think the expertise of Jez is really just building the body, and so far I’m very happy with everything.”
At Queen’s Korda has also been helped by Mark Bender, the physiotherapist who worked with Andy Murray until 2018 and was once described as his “back whisperer” But Korda knows he faces a tough test against Norrie, who reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year. “He’s one of probably the biggest fighters on tour. He doesn’t get tired, he doesn’t cramp, and he brings a big intensity to the courts. I’m expecting a good battle.”