LONDON Six years ago, Carlos Alcaraz played his first game on a grass court.
He clearly learns things quickly.
The 22-year-old Spanish player will participate in the first Center Court match of this two-week period, an honor reserved for the men’s winner from the previous year, when Wimbledongets began on Monday. The matchup with Fabio Fognini will kick off Alcaraz’s attempt to win the title there for the third time in a row.
In the Open era, which started in 1968, just four men have accomplished that: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, and Bjorn Borg. Good company.
Alcaraz is already 5-0 in Grand Slam finals, including a 2-0 victory at the French Open three weeks ago after rallying from a two-set deficit against No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final and a 1-0 victory at the U.S. Open.
The No. 2-ranked Alcaraz made history last year by being the youngest player to win a major championship on hard, clay, and grass courts.
However, he has a preference for the green stuff.
On grass, tennis is the most beautiful game to witness. Alcaraz, who will enter Monday on a career-best 18-match winning streak, including a title at the Queen’s Club tournament last weekend, described the sound of the ball and the style that the players bring to the court when they play on grass. Although the movement is somewhat difficult, if you master it, you’ll feel as though you’re flying.
He adores that it lets him showcase all of his abilities and the diversity of his game.
No matter what obstacles the opponent across the net presents or the pressure of the moment, few players can make you smile as much as Alcaraz can in the heat of battle. He acknowledges that he enjoys watching replays on arena video displays following some of his best performances (such technology isn’t utilized at the All England Club, but perhaps it should be). He is as inventive as it comes with a racket in hand, sometimes to his own harm.
After losing to two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in a round of golf early in the week, Alcaraz stated, “I really want to hit slices, drop shots, going to the net all the time, playing aggressively.” The style that you have to play on grass, in my opinion, is what I enjoy the best.
Hearing Djokovic’s thoughts on Alcaraz following a straight-set defeat in the All England Club final last year is enlightening.
Djokovic claimed that he simply outperformed him in every facet of the game. He was serving brilliantly, as evidenced by his movement and the manner he was simply striking the ball. Everything.
Those are powerful words. Despite finishing second to Alcaraz in 2023 and 2024, Djokovic has won seven of his men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz stated that he doesn’t really care about or give much thought to the prospect of becoming a member of an elite group by accomplishing a three-peat in two weeks.
Yes, he wants the title. But where in history would it put him? Let others handle that.
Alcaraz declared, “I truly want to lift the trophy.” However, I’m not considering who I might join if I win three consecutive Wimbledons at this time.
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Since 2002, Howard Fendrich has written about tennis for the AP. http://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich is where you can find his stories. See also: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis for more AP tennis
