Alcaraz, Carlos (2003- )

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      The Carlos Alcaraz Show Returns to Raves

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      The 2022 U.S. Open champion, Alcaraz battled injuries in fall and winter. At Indian Wells, he is nearly at full power, dominating opponents and dazzling fans.INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It’s a pretty easygoing crowd at the BNP Paribas Open in the heart of the Coachella Valley.Spectators soak up the sun. They wander the grounds while gazing at the mountains. They drink cheap beer priced expensively. Sometimes they watch tennis. Often they don’t.And then Saturday night rolled around, and just about every seat in Stadium 1 was occupied on a breezy night in the desert that was chilly enough for puffer jackets.Carlos Alcaraz was in the house, tender hamstring and all, trying to deliver this tournament — and really the sport itself — the kind of juice that only he seems able to deliver these days, especially with Rafael Nadal sidelined with an injury and Novak Djokovic prohibited from entering the United States because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19.To do that, though, Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish star, needs to be on the court, and that has not happened much since he blasted his way to his first Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking at the U.S. Open in New York last September.That effort required a series of marathon matches, including one that lasted until nearly 3 in the morning. He has been mostly hobbling ever since. He battled an abdominal injury through the fall. Then, in his final practice before his scheduled journey to the Australian Open, he pulled a hamstring as he sprinted and stretched to reach a short ball.Alcaraz, whose foot-on-the-gas style may make him more prone to injuries, like his compatriot Nadal, returned to play two small tournaments last month in South America. He won the title in Buenos Aires. Then, in Rio de Janeiro, he made the final but aggravated his hamstring midway through his three-set loss to Cameron Norrie of Britain. He pulled out of his next tournament, in Acapulco, to rest for Indian Wells, where tournament organizers fretting over the loss of Nadal and Djokovic were praying that Alcaraz could recover in time.“The tennis insiders knew that there was this new kid, maybe the next Rafa,” Tommy Haas, the German former pro who is the tournament director here, said of Alcaraz in the tense days before the start of the tournament. “And all of a sudden he just has a blowout year and becomes the youngest No. 1 of all time and you go, ‘How is this possible, and how amazing is he to watch?’”There are a handful of players that can make an early-round match feel like a big event, and Alcaraz did so on Saturday night as he ambushed Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and won in straight sets.Iga Swiatek of Poland, the women’s No. 1, had played in the afternoon in a mostly empty stadium. Taylor Fritz, the defending champion and top American, and Ben Shelton, also an American and the young season’s brightest surprise, then dueled in a tight, three-set battle that filled a good majority of the Stadium 1 seats. But it was nothing compared with the packed crowd that Alcaraz drew for the night’s final match.Even Jimmy Connors, who knows something about putting on a show, stuck around, sitting high in the stadium in the media seats. Alcaraz was at it again on Monday night, playing in the headliner’s spot — albeit in front of a thinner, school night crowd — against Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands. The basketball great and tennis obsessive Dirk Nowitzki was courtside.Alcaraz made a nearly unreachable shot against Tallon Griekspoor on Monday.Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThere is that crackling forehand that sounds different from everyone else’s, more like an ax splitting a log than polyester strings thumping a fuzzy ball. There are all the desperate sprints after nearly out-of-reach balls that so many players ignore. He has the most delicate and deceptive drop shot and stinging volleys.When a willowy drop shot clipped the tape and trickled just over the sideline, he twisted in anguish. How dare the gravity and subtle currents of the desert air conspire to interfere with his attempts at perfection.“I try to make the people enjoy watching tennis,” Alcaraz said after his first win. “And I think the way that I play, they love it.”He will play Jack Draper of Britain in the round of 16 Tuesday evening.The game wears on many younger players. The pressure of expectations, the constant attention and the relentless schedule have toppled top talents, either temporarily, in the case of Nick Kyrgios, or permanently. A year ago, Ashleigh Barty retired as the world No. 1 at 25.There are also players a few years older than Alcaraz who have flirted with his level, or achieved it, only to fall back before fans could get on the bandwagon.Daniil Medvedev won the U.S. Open in 2021 and rose to the top spot in the rankings early last year but won just two minor titles. At the moment, he is on a 16-match winning streak. Stefanos Tsitsipas has made two Grand Slam finals, but nerves and Djokovic got the better of him both times.As for the players who are of Alcaraz’s vintage, they know his early success has set a standard that will be hard to match.“I will try,” Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who is 21 and grew up playing in junior tournaments with Alcaraz, said unconvincingly with a shake of his head after his second-round loss here over the weekend.So far, Alcaraz has seemed immune to the usual anxieties. His approach?“Live the moment, play the match, and go for it,” he said.Alcaraz has had some help this week in producing the kind of buzz the sport is always seeking. Emma Raducanu of England, who won the 2021 U.S. Open as a qualifier, has gone on a roll, winning three consecutive matches for just the second time since her breakout Grand Slam win.The success has come largely out of nowhere. Raducanu, who last month deleted Instagram from her phone to better focus on herself, has been battling injuries and illnesses, most recently a wrist problem. She hardly prepared for this tournament and didn’t practice for four days ahead of her first match.But on Monday afternoon against Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, the 13th seed, Raducanu was once more whipping her lethal forehands into the corners and rolling her windmill backhand with a freedom that had been largely absent for the past year. And she was doing it in front of a raucous field-court crowd, just like in the not-so-old days of the 2021 U.S. Open. She was scheduled to play Swiatek on Tuesday in a matchup between the two most recent U.S. Open champions.“I did a really good job mentally of just staying, you know, keep hitting through the shots and trying to be committing to everything, even when it’s tight,” she said after her three-set win.In other words, what the player everyone now calls Carlito plans to do on Tuesday night against Draper, who at 21 may be a rival for long time.“I’m going to enjoy it,” Alcaraz said.More than likely, so will pretty much everyone watching. More

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      With Indian Wells Days Away, Novak Djokovic Hopes for a Miracle

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      The world No. 1, Djokovic remains unvaccinated against Covid-19 and still cannot enter the United States without an exemption. He has asked for one and is awaiting an answer.Novak Djokovic, last seen winning the Australian Open with a three-centimeter tear in his hamstring, has been back on the tennis court this week, steaming his way through the field in Dubai like he usually does.But as the tennis calendar gets serious again, with two of the most significant tournaments outside the Grand Slams scheduled to be held in California and Miami later this month, the Djokovic train seems destined to screech to a halt.Djokovic, once again the world’s No. 1 men’s singles player, desperately wants to play next week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., and later this month at the Miami Open. In recent weeks, he requested an exemption from the rule prohibiting people who are not permanent residents of the United States from entering the country if they have not been vaccinated against Covid-19.To the great consternation of Djokovic and some of the biggest names in the sport, it’s not going well, and time is running out for Djokovic to withdraw from the tournament before his not being able to play leaves a giant hole in the top quadrant of the bracket.John McEnroe, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and a television commentator, has called Djokovic’s inability to play in the U.S. “absurd.” If President Biden does not change his mind — and that is what it would take at this point — Djokovic must withdraw by Sunday or a player ranked about 100 spots lower may end up taking his favored spot on the draw sheet, Tommy Haas, the tournament director for Indian Wells, said in an interview on Wednesday.Haas, a former world No. 2 who is from Germany, has been lobbying multiple organizations to try to find a way to get Djokovic into the U.S. The United States Tennis Association has been in touch with its government contacts but has stopped short of formally lobbying on Djokovic’s behalf.“Novak’s situation is obviously frustrating for us,” Haas said. “We want the best tennis player in the world to be here. He’s writing me, he wants to be here. So of course, you’re like, OK, let’s try to make this happen. How can we figure this out that’s going to be realistic? But at the end of the day, unfortunately, that’s not in our hands and that’s what’s frustrating.”A spokesman for Djokovic did not respond to an email seeking comment. Djokovic said earlier this week that he was still awaiting a ruling on his request for an exemption.“Everything is currently in the process,” Djokovic said late last month in Belgrade, Serbia. “I have a big desire to be there.Djokovic, who has won at Indian Wells five times, has not explained why he believes he should qualify for an exemption. He is not vaccinated but the only reason he has ever given for his choice is that he believes people should have the right to decide whether to get vaccinated.The Djokovic situation isn’t the only bothersome development for the Indian Wells tournament.Rafael Nadal, who is still recovering from a leg injury he sustained in the second round of the Australian Open, withdrew earlier this week. Nadal hates missing Indian Wells, and not only because he has won the tournament three times. Nadal often stays at the home of Larry Ellison, the founder of the tech company Oracle who owns the tournament, and Nadal also gets to play plenty of golf in downtime.In another worrisome development for both Indian Wells and tennis, during a match in Rio de Janeiro last weekend, Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old Spanish sensation, aggravated the hamstring pull that kept him out of the Australian Open. The injury forced him to pull out of a tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, this week. Alcaraz thrilled crowds as he won the U.S. Open in September, the last time he competed in America.Carlos Alcaraz of Spain has been dealing with a hamstring injury and may not play at Indian Wells.Bruna Prado/Associated PressEven without some of the biggest stars, Indian Wells will always be one the highlights on the schedule. Players repeatedly rank the tournament among the best in the world. It is a destination for locals and tourists. The snow seems to have cleared out of Southern California for now. The overwhelming majority of the roughly half-million fans who attend the two-week event (including qualifying) come from outside the Palm Springs area.It also helps that tennis in the United States is in the midst of a small boom. The U.S.T.A. announced last month that participation grew in 2022 for the third consecutive year, with more than one million new participants. Overall, 23.6 million people played tennis at least once in 2022, an increase of 5.9 million, or 33 percent, since the start of 2020, when the pandemic drove hordes of new and lapsed players back to the sport.And yet, barring a last-minute change in policy or a decision to grant an exemption, the man who plays the sport better than anyone won’t be there.It’s not clear why Djokovic believes he might qualify for an exemption. The only criteria he would seem to be able to meet involves proving that getting vaccinated would be harmful to his health or that his presence in the United States “would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, Secretary of Transportation, or Secretary of Homeland Security (or their designees),” according to the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill rescinding the vaccination requirement 227-203, with seven Democrats joining all Republicans voting in favor. Supporters of the bill said the U.S. policy is out of step with the rest of the world, where vaccination requirements for foreigners have largely gone away. The Senate has not voted on the matter, which, according to the C.D.C., will not end automatically in May when the Biden administration plans to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies declared in 2020.Ending the vaccination requirement for foreign travelers will most likely require a separate order from President Biden ending the presidential proclamation that put it into effect.Haas, the Indian Wells tournament director, said there is a silver lining to the absences of Djokovic, Nadal and possibly Alcaraz, at least for the other players.“If I’m like a young American coming up, I’m like, listen this is my time to hold up the trophy,” Haas said. “Now from my point of view as the tournament director and one of the best players can’t compete here, it’s obviously a sad thing, a frustrating thing.” More

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      Holger Rune Making a Name for Himself in Tennis

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      As the 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz rose through the ranks in 2022, Rune, also 19, was marching through the top players. He even beat Alcaraz.Holger Rune speaks as he plays tennis — at a crazy fast pace, barely stopping to take a breath. His thoughts are deep and direct, as if he has much to say but not much time to say it.Rune’s footwork is exceptionally speedy, and his ascent up the rankings has kept pace. In just one year, he rose from outside the world’s Top 100 to a Top 10 ranking. He went from playing in lower-level tournaments at the beginning of 2022 to winning ATP events in Munich, Stockholm and Paris. At the Paris Masters, he upset five Top 10 players, including world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and 21-time Grand Slam singles winner Novak Djokovic, whom he beat in the final. At just 19, Rune was the ATP’s Newcomer of the Year, ending the season at No. 11.But there were problems for the Dane, whose squabbles with umpires, players and even his omnipresent mother, Aneke, garnered him unwanted attention. A verbal rumble after a loss to Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year had both players accusing each other of insults and untruths.For Rune, who begins contesting his second Australian Open this Monday, it’s all part of the maturation process.The following interview has been edited and condensed.Last year, you lost your first-round match at the Australian Open to Soonwoo Kwon after leading by two sets to one. What do you remember about that match?I was still very inexperienced, and it was physically and mentally hard to play five sets. After the third set I started cramping a little bit. Now I have a good take on playing long matches. It’s about saving some energy, and you can only get that by experience.You were the No. 1 ranked junior in the world in 2019. Some juniors find the transition to the pro tour very difficult, but for you it was seamless. Why?First of all, it wasn’t easy even though it was going quick. For me it felt like it took a lot of time, but on paper it didn’t. I was very eager and took all the steps. I have a big will to go through any challenge I get on my way to getting closer to my dream. That’s my focus every day that I step on the tennis court.In juniors, it looked like you played best on clay courts. Then you won 19 of your last 21 matches last year indoors on hard courts. Is that your new surface?That’s a good question. I don’t know honestly if I’m a clay-courter or a hard-courter. It depends. That’s why when people ask me if hard, clay or grass is my favorite surface, I would say all of them.Last year you added Patrick Mouratoglou to your coaching team, but you’ve been working with Lars Christensen since you were very young. What’s the most important thing Lars has taught you?I would say the discipline. If you look at me now from five years ago, I’m very different. I’m more structured in everything I do, on the court and off. Lars is also very technical. He’s still trying to help me learn stuff, and I’m very eager to improve.You had huge wins over Djokovic, Alcaraz and [Alexander] Zverev in 2022. Which one meant the most?I had one against [Stefanos] Tsitsipas too. But I’ve got to say, all of them in a way. But right now I’d have to say Novak. To play him in a final with all of the emotions and stuff is very big.You set a goal last year to be in the Top 25, and you made it to the Top 10. Did that surprise even you?When you stay in the moment you’re not surprised when everything is going so fast. But when I look back, I feel very proud of what I achieved. Ranking goals are important, but you can’t really control them because it depends on so many things. I’m happy with how things are going, and I’m very motivated to be in the best shape as possible in Australia. More

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      U.S. Open Winner Carlos Alcaraz to Miss Australian Open With Injury

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      Alcaraz, 19, the world No. 1, said he had injured his right leg during training.The year’s first major tennis tournament suffered a major blow on Friday when Carlos Alcaraz, the precocious men’s world No. 1 from Spain, announced that he was withdrawing from the Australian Open with a right leg injury.Alcaraz, a 19-year-old phenom with an acrobatic and all-court game, won his first Grand Slam singles title in September at the U.S. Open in often-spectacular fashion, prevailing in a series of compelling and frequently lengthy matches.His four-set victory over Casper Ruud of Norway in the final was the capstone to a breakthrough season and propelled him to the top spot in the men’s rankings, but Alcaraz has struggled with his health since then: withdrawing from the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, and Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, with an oblique muscle tear in his left abdominal wall.He has not competed in an official event since retiring from his match against Holger Rune, another gifted 19-year-old, in the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters in early November, though he took part in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi last month. Alcaraz returned to his training base in Villena, Spain, to recharge and rehabilitate for the 2023 season, but he said in a social-media post on Friday that he had injured the semimembranosus muscle in his right leg during a training session.“When I was at my best in preseason, I picked up an injury through a chance, unnatural movement,” he wrote, announcing his withdrawal from an exhibition next week near Melbourne and from the Australian Open, which will begin on Jan. 16.“I’d worked so hard to get to my best level for Australia,” he wrote. “It’s tough, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look forward.”Alcaraz’s withdrawal means that the Australian Open will be without the men’s No. 1 singles player for a second year in a row, albeit under starkly different circumstances.Last year, Novak Djokovic was deported from Australia on the eve of the tournament after arriving in the country without being vaccinated for the coronavirus and losing an extended and high-profile legal battle with the Australian government.But Australian government policy has changed, now allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter the country, even without an exemption. Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open singles champion, returned to Australia this year and has received a warm welcome so far on his way to the semifinals of the lead-in tournament in Adelaide this week.Though Alcaraz finished the season at No. 1, becoming the youngest man to do so, Djokovic finished 2022 with the momentum, winning the ATP Finals for the sixth time. It was a triumphant finish to his strangest and most tumultuous season, in which his unvaccinated status kept him from competing in two majors (the Australian Open and U.S. Open) and four Masters 1000 events in North America. He also received no ranking points for winning Wimbledon because of the tours’ decision to strip tournament of ranking points in light of its ban of Russian and Belarusian players.Despite that major mathematical handicap, Djokovic is still ranked No. 5 and was the heavy favorite to win the Australian Open even before Alcaraz’s withdrawal. But the Spaniard’s absence eliminates the enticing prospect of an intergenerational duel down under between the reigning No. 1 and the longest-reigning No. 1.Djokovic, the elastic 35-year-old Serbian, has held the top spot for a men’s record of 373 weeks and has a chance to reclaim that spot by winning a 10th Australian Open title.Alcaraz, who reached the third round in Melbourne last year, will have to watch from afar this time and steel himself for the long haul in a grinding, global, increasingly physical sport made all the tougher by a short off-season.He had a 2022 to savor, winning five singles titles and providing a surplus of social-media clip material with his airborne, all-action style and taste for the abrupt and spectacular change of pace: often a thunderous forehand followed by a deft drop shot. He was also sportsmanlike, giving opponents’ points and the benefit of the doubt on multiple occasions.But his torrid run clearly took a mental and physical toll. After winning the U.S. Open, he won just six of his next 10 singles matches, failing to reach another final. He also lost both matches in the Abu Dhabi exhibition in straight sets, to Andrey Rublev and Ruud.His staying power, unlike his luminous talent, is, for now, a question mark. More

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      Tennis Said Goodbye to Roger Federer and Hello to Carlos Alcaraz

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      The game went through a lot of changes and drama this year, including an emotional farewell to Serena Williams at the U.S. Open.Right after Brandon Nakashima won the ATP’s Next Gen Finals — a year-end championship for eight elite players ages 21 and under — in Milan last month, he headed to London for a vacation with his girlfriend.Walking through the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, with its holiday lights blazing, Nakashima, 21, realized that he, too, had blazed new trails in 2022.“It’s definitely been a very interesting year,” said Nakashima, who won his first ATP title in his hometown San Diego in September and ended the season ranked in the top 50 for the first time. “A year ago, I was playing mostly [low-level] Challenger tournaments and now I’m one of the standout new players rising up to challenge the older guys. That’s pretty exciting.”Brandon Nakashima, above, had a breakout year, capturing his first ATP title in September, and ending the season ranked in the top 50 for the first time. Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesInteresting. Exciting. Melodramatic. Breathtaking. All apt descriptions of the 2022 men’s and women’s pro tennis season. With the emergence of Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz and the teary departures of Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty, it’s hard to remember a year in the sport quite like this one.When the season began in Australia in January, Covid was still a major issue. The nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, whose steadfast refusal to be vaccinated for Covid-19 polarized fans worldwide, was detained for hours at the Melbourne Airport and then placed in lockdown at an immigration detention hotel.He was ultimately sent home just as the tournament was starting.With Federer in Switzerland nursing his ailing knee, Rafael Nadal, who had not won a major since the 2020 French Open, beat Daniil Medvedev for the men’s title and captured his 21st major championship, breaking a three-way tie with Federer and Djokovic.Nadal, who turned 36 in June, won his first 21 matches of the year until finally falling to Taylor Fritz in the final at Indian Wells in March. He then added a 22nd major by winning his 14th French Open.With much of the early-season drama on the men’s side, Barty, the world No. 1 and reigning Wimbledon champ, cruised through the women’s Australian Open, and became the first Aussie woman to win the title since 1978.Less than two months later, she announced her retirement, paving the way for Swiatek to become No. 1. Swiatek wasted no time in proving her worth, winning 37 consecutive matches from late February to early July and claiming her second French and first United States Opens.“I had times when I wasn’t that motivated,” Swiatek said during the year-end WTA Finals, where she lost in the semifinals to Aryna Sabalenka, who ended the year ranked No. 5. “I accept that I don’t have to feel always 100 percent motivated. But when I’m going on the court it’s still the same, I always want to win.”Serena Williams, above, gestured to the crowd at the 2022 U.S. Open after a match against Ajla Tomljanovic. Williams won two star-studded matches at the tournament, and announced her retirement after the Open.Danielle Parhizkaran/USA Today Sports, via ReutersIf Swiatek’s rise seemed meteoric, it was nothing compared with that of Alcaraz. Still a teenager, Alcaraz began the 2022 season ranked No. 32 and ended it as the youngest year-end No. 1, at age 19. It was the first time since 2003 that someone other than Djokovic, Federer, Nadal or Andy Murray finished the season atop the ATP rankings.In all, Alcaraz won five titles, including Masters 1000s in Miami and Madrid, where he upset three of the world’s top four players: Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.“This was really a head-scratching season,” said the former world No. 1 Jim Courier by phone last month. “It’s hard to look at the two No. 1s and not be amazed. Iga grabbed the mantle and didn’t let go. And Alcaraz, who we expected would be great, did it way ahead of schedule.“There really were three legitimate No. 1s for the men this year,” Courier added. “Carlos earned it on points, but Novak was incredible, because in spite of not playing half the year, he didn’t suffer the emotional strain from being out of the game. But, in the end, I judge No. 1 on the majors and considering that Rafa won two of them, I would think most people would want his year most of all.”There were plenty of other breakout performances. Casper Ruud reached two major finals, losing to Nadal at the French Open and Alcaraz at the U.S. Open. He was also the runner-up to Djokovic at the ATP Finals.Holger Rune, 19, went from relative obscurity to capturing 19 of his last 21 matches, including a victory over Djokovic in the final of the Paris Masters. Fritz won in Indian Wells and took Nadal to five sets in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Frances Tiafoe beat Nadal and Andrey Rublev before falling in five exuberant sets to Alcaraz in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. And Nick Kyrgios finally reached his first major final at Wimbledon.Elena Rybakina had a breakout season this year, capturing her first major at Wimbledon.Sebastien Bozon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesElena Rybakina captured her first major at Wimbledon, while Ons Jabeur delighted fans by reaching back-to-back finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Coco Gauff reached the final at the French Open, which helped her become, at 18, the youngest woman since 2007 to finish the year ranked in the top 10.Jessica Pegula won the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara and ended the season ranked No. 3. And Caroline Garcia, who began the year ranked No. 74 and considering retirement, stormed back, winning four titles, including the WTA Finals, and ended up No. 4.Year-end rankings might have been different had off-court drama not intervened. Djokovic was barred from two of the four majors, yet he still managed to win five of the 11 tournaments he entered. He was 42-7 on the season.Russian and Belarusian players including Medvedev, Rublev, Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka were barred from all tournaments in the United Kingdom because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prompting both the ATP and the WTA to withdraw ranking points from Wimbledon, which skewed the ranking system.Team competitions flourished in 2022. Switzerland, led by Belinda Bencic, Jil Teichmann and Viktorija Golubic, won its first Billie Jean King Cup. And Canada, led by Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, began the year by winning the ATP Cup and ended it by winning the country’s first Davis Cup.There were ups and downs this year. Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open champion, returned after nearly a year away because of a wrist injury. Zverev had an ankle injury at the French Open and did not play for the rest of the season. And former No. 1 Simona Halep was suspended after the U.S. Open when she failed a drug test.Holger Rune celebrating after defeating Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles final at the Paris Masters. Rune had a standout season, winning 19 of his last 21 matches.Julien De Rosa/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThere were tears and cheers when Serena Williams — who announced her retirement after the U.S. Open — won two star-studded night matches there, including a victory over the second-seeded Anett Kontaveit. Williams lost to Ajla Tomljanovic, but the 23-time major winner was already hinting at a possible return before she had left Arthur Ashe Stadium.But by far the most gut-wrenching moment of the year was reserved for Federer, who played his last pro match at the Laver Cup in London in September alongside Nadal, his longtime rival and friend . With hugs and tears flowing, Federer ended a 24-year career that included 20 majors:eight at Wimbledon and six Australian, five U.S. and one French Opens.“Someone who I have admired, who I have rivaled and also I have shared many beautiful things on and off the court was leaving,” Nadal said of his post-match display of emotion, in an interview with Reuters. “You know you’re not going to live that again, and a part of my life left with him. It was also the emotion of saying goodbye to someone who has been so important to our sport.”The future of the sport is now in the youthful hands of Alcaraz, Swiatek, Gauff, Rune and Ruud. But even Nakashima knows there will never be another Federer.“I grew up watching him on TV and idolizing him,” Nakashima — who still has posters of Federer and Nadal on his bedroom wall — said by phone last month. “Unfortunately, I never got to meet him. But if I did, I would just thank him for everything he’s done for our sport.” More

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      The Forehand Slice, Once Disdained, Makes a Comeback

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      It was once considered a desperate shot, but experts say it can give players an edge. Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz use it.Tennis players commonly hit three types of backhands — topspin, flat and slice — yet on the forehand, they have, in the modern game, traditionally limited their arsenal of shots to just the first two.The forehand slice — which involves sliding the racket beneath the ball to create backspin or sliding it to the left or right of the ball to create side spin — is used for drop shots but has long been frowned upon as a desperate play in an extreme situation. Yet while many players still view the shot with disdain, it is starting to get some respect as a shot that, when used strategically, can give players an edge.“There are a handful of players who use it as a tactic and who do it well,” says Madison Keys, a power player ranked as the world No. 11, who said she did not practice the shot much.Pam Shriver, a former Top 10 player who is now an ESPN commentator, used the forehand slice extensively during her playing career. She would like to see more players take the shot seriously.“It has become a really important specialty shot to have,” Shriver said, adding that it is particularly effective on fast, low-bouncing surfaces like indoor courts such as the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, which will host this year’s WTA Finals. (The slice is less effective on clay.)The slice is most frequently used as a defensive shot when a player is stretched wide, but Shriver noted that it could also be effective to disrupt an opponent’s rhythm and keep the ball extra low, especially on the offensive approach shot.“Serena Williams introduced a generation of really dynamic and powerful players, but now you see the new generation getting more creative,” said Wim Fissette, a coach who has worked with several world No. 1-ranked women, including Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka. “It started a few years ago in men’s tennis, and now it’s happening in women’s tennis. With all that power, you need to develop ways to defend; you need creative solutions.”He, like many others, credits Roger Federer’s occasional “squash shots” — in which he would chop down on a ball to create a fast, low, hard-spinning shot — with giving the forehand slice momentum among modern players including Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur and Carlos Alcaraz.“If you only hit powerful shots from the baseline, your opponent only has to run left and right,” Fissette said. “Federer started using his slice to bring the opponent into the court, taking them away from the baseline to where they weren’t as confident. The forehand slice is a way to find ways to break the rhythm of your opponent and to make the court bigger.”Karolina Pliskova playing a forehand slice during the 2021 Australian Open. According to the tennis coach Wim Fissette, the shot can help extend points and draw opponents to portions of the court where they are less comfortable.Daniel Pockett/Getty ImagesAdditionally, he noted that when a player “does not have their A game, they need a Plan B” and that using slices on defense can allow a player to fight their way into a match.Many players still think of the forehand slice as something to be used grudgingly and only when pulled wide, but Shriver points out that today’s open stances, combined with the ability to slide into shots even on hard courts, allow players extra reach, enabling them to flick a slice back even if they cannot get their full body into a shot for a flat or topspin ball.“More players are using the forehand slice, but as a defensive shot,” said eighth-ranked Daria Kasatkina, who, like Keys, does not practice the shot. She said she did not think about it tactically, employing it only when cornered by a hard-hit ball that forces her into a defensive play.Keys said she used the forehand slice only on the run and “when absolutely necessary.”Even top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who has a diverse array of weapons, said that while the shot “can really reset a rally,” it was not a priority for her. “I use it only when I can’t make another shot.”Fissette, the coach who worked with Halep and Osaka, said that it was worth doing speed training drills to practice those forehands on the run because it extends points, and that opponents who are not comfortable attacking the net will feel compelled to hit riskier groundstrokes closer to the lines, causing them to make more errors.He said Swiatek was adept at using the shot defensively but added that she, like Gauff, gripped the racket in a way that could make hitting low forehands difficult, especially when coming forward, and that the slice could be helpful there.“Players should be practicing the slice and practicing how to defend against that spin,” Shriver, the former player and commentator, said, citing Ons Jabeur as a player who uses the slice well defensively and offensively.Shriver and Fissette said it was an ideal approach shot, especially to an opponent’s forehand, because it kept the ball low and allowed the attacker to hit while moving through the ball, getting her to the net quicker. “Karolina Pliskova has an excellent down-the-line approach slice,” Fissette added. “I’d like to see more women develop that.”Fissette said that since WTA players were generally less comfortable at the net than men, the slice could also be effective to open the court and draw opponents to short shots that might be trickier for them to handle.That is especially worth trying on balls to your opponent’s forehand, Shriver said. If you slice to players’ backhands, they might just slice it back and then you would not gain an edge. But on the forehand, you want to keep the ball out of the main strike zone where players can really drive the ball, and lower shots are tougher for many players.“And the slice often has more than underspin, it also has a bit of side spin, which adds another element for them to deal with,” Shriver said.Neither Shriver nor Fissette thinks the shot will, or should become, as common as the backhand slice.“You have to pick the right ball and the right moment,” Fissette said,The backhand slice is a more natural shot, Shriver said, and “it can get really messy” when a player cannot find the feel for the forehand slice. Additionally, switching grips back and forth too much can throw a player’s power forehand out of sync.Still, “while the forehand slice is a gamble, it can be well worth it,” she said. “And it makes tennis more interesting to watch.” More

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      Roger Federer’s Retirement Makes Room for a New Era of Champions

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      Roger Federer’s retirement will auger opportunities for a new generation of players not named Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.Upon learning that Roger Federer will retire after the upcoming Laver Cup, Judy Murray, the Scottish tennis coach and mother of Andy Murray, one of Federer’s great opponents, noted on social media that it signifies “the end of a magnificent era.”But Federer’s pending retirement, announced Thursday, also foretells the conclusion of a larger era defined by more than just him.For many, it is the greatest era of men’s tennis, one that includes the unsurpassed greatness of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Collectively, the three helped define a transcendent and remarkably durable period in tennis history that also parallels the career of Serena Williams, who announced she was stepping away from the sport last month.On the men’s side, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic’s collective reign, which endured for two decades, was glorious for tennis fans. Their stubborn persistence also prevented numerous “next generations” from finding the spotlight.Nadal, 36, and Djokovic, 35, who won Wimbledon this year, will presumably still carry on a bit longer. But Federer’s announcement on Thursday reminded the tennis world that the end will eventually come for all three of them, leaving the stage to a host of hungry new players, some of whom have already muscled their way into the breach.Carlos Alcaraz, right, keeps a photo of himself with Federer on a bookshelf at his home in El Palmar, Spain.Samuel Aranda for The New York Times“Roger has been one of my idols and a source of inspiration,” Carlos Alcaraz, the new United States Open champion, posted on his Twitter account in tribute to Federer. “Thank you for everything you have done for our sport! I still want to play with you! Wish you all the luck in the world for what comes next!”What comes next is a peek into a future of men’s tennis minus one of its greatest male stars, and eventually all three of them.Alcaraz became the youngest men’s player to reach No. 1 when he captured the U.S. Open on Sunday at only 19. Others — including Casper Ruud, whom Alcaraz beat in the final; Daniil Medvedev, last year’s U.S. Open champion; Jannik Sinner, the promising 21-year-old from Italy; Nick Kyrgios; Frances Tiafoe; Felix Auger-Aliassime; and Denis Shapovalov — now can all ponder the possibilities that tennis mortality presents to them.“It’s been a privilege to share the court with you,” Shapovalov, 23, told Federer on social media Thursday.It will be a different kind of privilege — and opportunity — to play without him.But on the court, Federer’s retirement does not constitute a sudden change in the landscape. There were few expectations that, even if he could have rediscovered his health, Federer would come back to win more majors — not at 41, and not after three frustrating years trying to regain his footing. Nadal and Djokovic, on the other hand, remain the agenda setters in men’s tennis.Since 2019, they have combined to win 12 of the 15 major tournaments that were held. Had Djokovic not been barred from entering the United States this year, he likely would have been favored to win the U.S. Open, and if he had won, it would have given him and Nadal a sweep of this year’s majors.Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic before their French Open semifinal earlier this year.James Hill for The New York TimesTwo of the big three are still as dangerous as ever, and there is no fixed expiration date on either of them. There are concerns, though. Health has long been a nagging issue for Nadal, as it was at the U.S. Open, when he was ousted by Tiafoe in the fourth round after he returned from an abdominal strain that forced him out of Wimbledon.For Djokovic, there is the matter of his refusal to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, which prevented him from competing in this year’s Australian Open and U.S. Open. At least some doubt remains about Djokovic’s availability for those events next year, lending even more hope to the younger stars.So, can promising young players like those previously mentioned, plus No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 5 Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, who won the 2020 U.S. Open, take advantage, as Alcaraz did? For the first time in 20 years, it seems possible, even with Nadal and Djokovic still standing in the way. But tennis has seen this before.In 2017, the A.T.P. launched the Next Generation Finals in Milan. Zverev, Medvedev and Karen Khachanov, who reached a U.S. Open semifinal last week, were all invited, along with Shapovalov, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, and Jared Donaldson, who retired with an injury. Tiafoe and Tsitsipas were alternates.Since then, only Medvedev, 26, has won a major title. The rest of the time, he and the others were thwarted, often by one of the big three. It was the same for older players, too, like Andy Roddick, Stanislas Wawrinka, David Nalbandian, David Ferrer and Mikhail Youzhny, all of whom played for leftovers.Daniil Medvedev, who beat Djokovic to win the 2021 U.S. Open, is among the emerging generation of stars.Ben Solomon for The New York TimesSince 2004, Federer, Nadal or Djokovic has finished as the year’s No. 1 player except one, when Andy Murray earned the distinction in 2016.In 2018, when Youzhny retired, he said, “Sometimes these guys didn’t give anyone else chances to win. I can’t say I would have won more, but this is a great era for tennis.”Federer came into the game first, turning professional in 1998 and winning his first Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in 2003. Nadal was next, playing professionally since 2001 and winning the first of his 22 majors in 2005. Djokovic turned professional in 2003 and won his first major title in Australia in 2008.It seems natural that they should go out in the same order. Only then can a new generation of stars finally establish a new era, one that has been decades in the making. More