Alcaraz turns on the genius switch and puts himself two games shy of the grand slam in his career | Toemaini Carayol

One of the biggest matches of Alex de Minaur’s career was already falling from his grasp when his opponent, Carlos Alcaraz, compounded his misery with a selfish stroke of genius. Midway through the third set, the result anything but a formality, De Minaur hit an aggressive forehand down the line and shot forward towards the net.

Against almost any other player in the world, the Australian would have achieved that point. Against Alcaraz, the world No. 1, De Minaur watched helplessly as the Spaniard chased the ball and slid to his right, hitting a forehand down the line that did not return. De Minaur could not hide his sad smile.

Over the past ten days, the sixth seed has played the best tennis of his already incredibly successful career. He reached his second career Australian Open quarterfinal by dismantling former top 10 player Frances Tiafoe and newest top 10 player Alexander Bublik in consecutive straight-sets victories. He had been clinical and had gone through his share of the draw with just one set lost in five previous matches.

De Minaur’s progress in this tournament was a continuation of his upward momentum. Still, the fact remains that the No. 6 and No. 1 in the ATP Rankings sometimes seem to compete in different sports. At no point in his 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 win over the Australian did Alcaraz even appear uncomfortable.

It took the 22-year-old some time to settle down in the first set. Although he started well, the winner of six majors was ultimately punished for not serving precisely enough and when De Minaur tried to target his opponent’s backhand, the Spaniard was unimpressive. He made 10 backhand unforced errors, compared to just one winner in the first set. Alcaraz led twice in the first set with a break, but cheaply gave the initiative back to De Minaur.

However, Alcaraz simply has so many more options, weapons and ways to win a point, making it only a matter of time before he took control. Whenever they were locked in extended rallies, the younger man – he is 22 – would break out of the exchanges with devastating injections of pace or a drop shot. He used his unparalleled skills to move quickly from defense to attack. Once the first set was secured, Alcaraz rolled through the match.

The story surrounding Alcaraz for so long was his tendency to lose focus during matches. One of the most memorable examples came when he inexplicably found himself in a fifth set with 38-year-old Fabio Fognini, who was ranked No. 138 and on the verge of retirement, in the first round of Wimbledon. Things have changed quickly. Just like in September in New York, Alcaraz navigated his way to the semi-finals in Melbourne without dropping a set.

He hasn’t always played his best tennis, but despite being pushed to 7-5 and 7-6 sets five times in this tournament, he has found his way through every match in straight sets. “I’ve been working on this, on the concentration, the focus,” Alcaraz said. “Not having any ups and downs in the games has been one of my best or most important goals for me that I try to put into practice every training.

“When I practice for two hours, two and a half hours, play sets or play against another player, I just try to play the same level and have the same concentration, point after point after point. I think the work is worth it and I just have a great mentality and a great concentration throughout the tournament, which I’m just very proud that all the hard work is paying off.”

The level he showed in the last two sets against the 26-year-old De Minaur was mainly important for the Spaniard due to his lack of match training. He chose not to participate in the two weeks before the Australian Open and therefore entered the tournament looking for rhythm. “My team told me: be patient. Your level, the level you want to play, will definitely come. You just have to keep trying, keep pushing yourself, and you will get to where you want to be.”

Two wins away from securing a career grand slam, Alcaraz is starting to find the level he was looking for. Now he has to maintain it.