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Carlos Alcaraz will be the first man to play 14 Grand Slam quarter-finals before turning 23 at the Australian Open this week. (AP Photo)
Six-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that he has been personally surprised by how well he has been serving with a renewed technique at the ongoing Australian Open. The 22-year-old said that the serve was an “important weapon” to his game, admitting that he was glad to see the high percentage of first serves that have landed right in the slam so far.
The Spaniard booked a place in the quarter-final after beating 19th seed Tommy Paul 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 7-5 on Sunday. The upcoming match would be his 14th appearance in a last-eight fixture of a Grand Slam, thereby breaking the record for the most quarter-final appearances for any player before turning 23 in the Open Era, going past Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker, who had reached 13 Grand Slam quarter-finals before they had turned 23.
“I’m surprising myself to be honest. The serve is something I’ve been working on for a long time. I’m really happy to see the improvement of the serve and to have a high percentage”
“After every set, I try to take up my percentage, I look at the screen after every set. In general, [in] the four matches I’ve played, the serve has been an important weapon for me,” Alcaraz said after the victory on Sunday.
Last week, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic had hinted at how there were certain similarities between his and Alcaraz’s serve at the ongoing slam, saying in jest that he needed to talk about copyrights and how after every time he served an ace, Djokovic expected Alcaraz to pay a tribute to him.
“As soon as I saw it, I sent him a message. I said, we have to speak about the copyrights. Then when I saw him here, I told him we have to talk about percentage of his winnings. Every ace I expect a tribute to me. Let’s see if he’s going to stick to the agreement,” the Serbian said.
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