Clap your hands, really. Applaud Carlos Alcaraz and everyone who has helped him return to tennis in this way, because this is not simply returning after a long injury: it is doing it as if nothing had happened. Without fear, without trials, without even protecting himself. Loose right arm, fast legs, powerful blows, imagination in abundance. The usual Alcaraz. Only after four months they could have changed everything. And, really, nothing has changed.
That he is already in the quarterfinals of the US Open is almost the least of it. The truly important thing is that his recovery is over, that there are no longer any doubts, that the uncertainty is over and that that right wrist that for months conditioned his every movement is once again, simply, another part of his body. Alcaraz will not crash on the curve in which champions like Juan Martín del Potro or Dominic Thiem crashed, trapped for too long in pain and relapses, and will be able to continue accumulating successes one after another. Because only being healthy can you play like that. Absolutely healthy. Excessively healthy. Prodigiously healthy. Only healthy can the tennis that the Spaniard offered this Sunday to defeat Tommy Paul in the round of 16 be displayed by 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4, in two hours and 19 minutes of play.
Until now, the modest entity of the defeated rivals - Roman Safiullin, Jaime Faria and Wu Yibing - forced each victory to be analyzed with caution. Each match was used to observe, rather than to judge, and you had to wait. But not anymore. Against Paul there was no trace of the prudence of the first days nor of gestures that suggested that Alcaraz was still negotiating with his body. He played forward, attacked with his forehand, improvised when he needed to, accelerated when he wanted and even allowed himself what he longed for: forgetting about his serve.
The serve shines, the backhand is missing
These days, since his arrival in New York, the current world number three has admitted that service is the only asterisk in his recovery and that it will continue to be so for some time. Recovering that automatism requires weeks, if not months, and absolute freedom of the wrist. In the first rounds, the average speed of his first serves barely exceeded 180 km/h, an insufficient mark that allowed his opponents to attack the rest. But against Paul, a larger rival, he knew how to raise that figure to 189 km/h, maintain a notable percentage of first inside (70%) and avoid problems. The American managed to recover a break in the second set, but at no time did he question Alcaraz's victory. The numbers prior to the injury are already close, when he averaged around 195 km/h with his first serve.
In fact, if there is any improvement to be noted for the games to come, it is in the reverse. Paul is a powerful tennis player, with a hard serve and heavy forehand, but he lacks variety and, above all, tactical resources to change the script of matches. Alcaraz was thus able to play for a long time on his field, command and find spaces to show off. The demand will be different if rivals arrive capable of insistently seeking the backhand, because every time he entered into cross exchanges from that side he lacked the depth and ball speed that he usually generates when he is loose. With that blow he signed three winners due to 18 unforced errors. Nothing very worrying. Simply, the last gesture to be outlined.
"I have played with my style"
"I was able to play my game, I played with my style. Tommy is a very dangerous opponent, with a lot of talent and I came out prepared for the battle, to be aggressive, to run, to not allow him to enter the court," Alcaraz analyzed at the end of the match before adding: "Except in 2024, every year here I have reached the quarterfinals [five times] and that is because I enjoy it a lot here. It doesn't matter that I haven't played for four months, here I always play my best version."
