MELBOURNE, Australia – As soon as Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with a win over Tommy Paul, attention turned to his serve.
The top-ranked Alcaraz, who is trying to complete a Grand Slam career in Australia at the age of 22, has revamped it a bit.
It worked well for him on Sunday in a 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 19 seed Paul. There were no double faults, he got 70 percent of his first serves in the game and won 79 percent of those points. He also won 68 percent of the points on his second serve.
The renewed start of his service motion looks familiar and has not escaped the attention of Novak Djokovic. The 24-time Major winner joked earlier in the tournament that he had sent Alcaraz a message requesting copyright.
Alcaraz was asked about it in an on-field TV interview at Rod Laver Arena, and played along.
“Yes. I heard that. I have the contract there, but I haven’t seen it yet!” the Spaniard said about his conversation with Djokovic.
Expanding on the theme, he said that when videos of the service motion came out in preseason, he checked his phone and got a message from Djokovic that more or less said, “Okay, you have to pay!”
Alcaraz said the locker room jokes keep it fun. Seeking an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title, Djokovic has been blocked in the past two years by Alacaraz and Jannik Sinner, who split the eight titles evenly.
One missing element on Alcaraz’s tennis resume is a trophy at Melbourne Park. He never got past the quarter-finals. He will face local favorite Alex de Minaur or No. 10 Alexander Bublik in the last eight next week.
Paul reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2023, so that was in his favor going into the fourth round match with Alcaraz.
The pair went shot for shot in the first set tiebreak when a medical episode interrupted their match for more than 14 minutes.
The score was 3-3 when chair umpire Marija Cicak informed them that a spectator in Rod Laver Arena needed urgent medical attention.
The delay was so long that the players had to strike again for a few minutes before play resumed, and after the spectator was helped out of the arena by medical and ambulance personnel.
After that, Alcaraz always rode in the lead. He broke serve in the crucial 10th game of the third set, ending the match in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
The pair hugged at the net, Alcaraz did a little dance move on the court to entertain the crowd, and then applauded the 28-year-old American as he left the court.
“All in all, a very high level of tennis from both sides,” Alcaraz said. “Really happy I got it in straight sets.”
Alcaraz said he was aware of his serving stats, adding in a sort of humble brag: “Yeah, it’s impressing myself to be honest” in his first four matches at Melbourne Park.
“After every set I try to watch it – on the screens,” he said. “Overall, I think the four matches I’ve played (here), the serve has been an important weapon for me.”
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