Novak Djokovic is a fully-evolved tennis player. He knows the trade, and he knows the tricks of the trade. Djokovic doesn’t have to find something new to win Wimbledon; he simply has to maintain his lofty standard in crunch-time situations. Tiebreakovic, if he remains at the height of his powers, will win this tournament …
… unless one thing happens: Carlos Alcaraz figures it all out at The All-England Club.
We talked about it before the tournament. It is still the ultimate question surrounding the gentlemen’s singles competition heading into the quarterfinals, with Alcaraz and Djokovic the clear favorites in their respective halves of the draw.
One of the larger stories surrounding the whole of Wimbledon — including both the men’s and women’s tournaments — was whether Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, the luminously-talented No. 1 seeds with the highest ceilings of anyone not named Djokovic, would be able to figure out grass quickly.
Emphasize that last word: quickly.
The greatest of great players — Alcaraz and Swiatek bear so many marks of elite champions — do eventually figure out Wimbledon. For some, though, it takes time. It’s not an immediate ascent. The question is less about whether these top players will eventually lift a Wimbledon trophy in the next 10 years, more about whether they can rise quickly and stuff their trophy cases with Wimbledon titles on a large scale.
On Sunday, Swiatek had a “learn how to handle Wimbledon” moment against Belinda Bencic, a significant forward step in cracking the code at SW19. Yet, as good as that comeback was — and as mature as Swiatek proved to be when match pressure came crashing down on her shoulders — Bencic was not playing lights-out tennis. The Swiss was good, but hardly spectacular. Swiatek helped create the deficit she faced with a river of errors.
Carlos Alcaraz did not face match point against Matteo Berrettini on Monday, but while he did not come as close to defeat as Swiatek did versus Bencic, Alcaraz played at a higher level than what Swiatek displayed on Sunday.
Berrettini threw down a big-league first set with explosive speed and powerful shotmaking. The Italian, a proven pro who has become a bonafide expert at making the second week of majors, is very comfortable on grass. The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up is tough enough as it is; on grass, he is especially formidable. He set the bar much higher than Bencic did, or ever could. Berrettini has fulfilled much more of his potential than Bencic has, and we have been able to see Berrettini come closer to reaching his own ceiling a lot more often than we see from Bencic.
For Alcaraz to take three straight sets off an in-form Berrettini at Wimbledon after getting punched in the mouth in set one shows how resourceful Alcaraz can be on grass, his weakest surface.
If that’s his weakest surface, it’s yet another indication of just how much room there is for Alcaraz to grow.
If we see the full growth pattern over the remainder of this week, the Djokovic championship everyone is expecting could at least face one stiff challenge — not in the quarters, not in the semis, but on Sunday, July 16.
Tennis with an Accent 