After the first hesitant group Carlos Alcaraz flows per second. There was confidence and a smile, and finally, suddenly, three parallel beams of backhands stunned Alex de Minaur. zoom. zoom. zoom. Each one is more effective, more millimeter-scale, and more lethal. … There is talk of his supersonic forehand, but Murcian adds this improvement with his backhand with which he protects himself from both sides, reducing the weaknesses and options available to his opponents.
“When he plays his backhand at the level he showed today (Sunday), he plays with great confidence. With this backhand, he broke me several times with winners. And when he plays like this it is very difficult to take it. “He has many weapons and can achieve victory in any part of the path,” explains De Minaur himself, the victim who saw and felt this skill honed by the Moroccans. “What is surprising is the ease and ease with which he does things. Other tennis players see the physical effort they put in to generate force on the ball. He adds Pedro Vives, his sparring partner on Monday: “He, without seeming so, throws the ball just as fast or even more.”
It didn’t come out of nowhere. Continuously growing, he reorganized the serve, and now works with the backhand, the stroke that gives leadership to the attack and opportunities to defend. “It’s something we focused on a lot in training. It’s a very important hit. I tried that in Paris, but it didn’t work. However, when you insist on something, it ends up coming out.”
“Many players feel very good in this aspect, with a very good rhythm, and they turn to the right to better take the initiative. But if they have a complete setback, with good intensity, and they know how to change rhythms and directions, they have a lot to gain.” Carla SuarezHe has one of the most beautiful one-handed backhand shots in tennis. “It can help you shorten points or get winners from more places on the track. With a forehand you can generate more power, but with a good backhand you can do damage in both directions; “It pushes you to attack better, to drive the point,” continues the BJK captain.
As de Minaur noted, Alcaraz feels increasingly comfortable with this new backhand whose execution action he has modified: he lowered the swing at first to gain fluidity, safety and more leverage. The average quality of this shot before arriving in Turin was 7.9, a score set by the ATP based on the effectiveness of the gesture and which takes into account various variables: spin, speed, landing coordinates, bounce angle and eccentricity, and phase of the game; It generates a score of 0/10. Against the Australian, his score rose to 8.8, and with everything else, it led him to complete his third-best match of the season, 9.09 overall, according to Tennis Insights statistics, with data from the ATP. In more meaningful numbers: eleven winners.
He feels increasingly comfortable with this new backhand whose execution motion he has modified, lowering the start of the swing, giving him fluidity, security and more leverage. By 2024, the average speed reached 105 kilometers per hour; By 2025, it had risen to 110; In the last US Open, he recorded an average of 119 kilometers per hour. But it’s not just about speed. During the year, an average of 28% attended this coup; In the Tokyo final against Taylor Fritz (his opponent on Tuesday in Turin, 2 pm, Movistar) it reached 45%, where he additionally received 9.42 points for the effectiveness of that gesture, and he also showed an outstanding performance in the quarter-final against Brandon Nakashima. Despite the missteps and errors suffered by Cameron Norrie in Paris, aged 23 and with just six winners, Homework has been going well.
Fritz, his opponent on Tuesday, also suffered a major setback. In fact, he said himself, it is his best shot: “I think my backhand has always been one of my best shots. I feel very good this week, and I also think part of that is down to the track conditions, it’s fast and I’m not worried about doing too much to generate speed because it’s already there. “I feel so good.”
The El Palmar player tried to play a one-handed backhand, imitating his idol Roger Federer. It lasted one day, knowing that in today’s tennis, the strength provided by both hands is a vital advantage. It was said that Rafa Nadal had two forehands, because he hit the ball so hard that it shortened it. Alcaraz has raised the bar crisscross and above all in parallel. Another skill he is honing to complete on his right, to protect himself from both sides.
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