Carlos Alcaraz's arsenal sinks tenacious Jenson Brooksby in first-time meeting at US Open

NEW YORK—Is it possible to witness a tennis player with the composure of Rafael Nadal and the arsenal of Roger Federer? The answer might well be Carlos Alcaraz. Saturday, in a third-round match at the US Open, Alcaraz beat Jenson Brooksby, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. If in the end the score appeared routine, the journey to get there was a lively one, flavored by many thrilling all-court rallies.

Credit both players for their highly studious qualities. Prior to the match, just before noon, I watched Brooksby practice on court P4. There is a melodic quality to Brooksby’s tennis. This makes sense given that he has long been a pianist, an endeavor that, like tennis, requires one to efficiently synthesize footwork, fine motor skills, and an uncluttered mind. From classical to rock, Brooksby calls playing piano, “a cool skill I hope to have for the rest of my life.”  Exquisitely relaxed, Brooksby’s stealth-like movement, unrushed swings and ability to direct the ball to tricky places summons the genius of hockey great Wayne Gretzky: Why rush when you can just be there?

On the other hand, to come up against Alcaraz is to frequently feel rushed in all sorts of ways that could well reveal the shape of things to come; an upgraded level of pace, spin, variety, footspeed. To think that Alcaraz is only 19 and has already learned to hit so many different shots is amazing and incredibly rare. Alcaraz’s wide range at this early stage of his career evokes memories of such versatile teens as Federer, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, and Lew Hoad. “Yeah, I practice a lot these kind of shots when I was younger,” said Alcaraz. “Actually, as well, I mean, as I said before, it is something that I am practicing to doing in the match. That means that I'm enjoying, I'm happy with my level on court. I just trying to play different shots.” But of course, he is building these tools in a very different era, where everything from increased topspin to the two-handed backhand to new racquet and string technologies have dramatically altered the ebb and flow of points.

Consider, for example, the way Alcaraz first broke Brooksby’s serve. In the first set, with Brooksby serving at 2-3, 40-30, Alcaraz rattled off three straight points in three exceptionally different ways. First, a forehand slice struck deep, hard and low. Second, Alcaraz took an 87 mph second serve to his backhand and went to the rip-charge, driving the return deep to the Brooksby backhand and eliciting an error. Next, on break point, following a deep forehand return, Alcaraz cracked an untouchable crosscourt forehand. In large part, that sequence—call it The Alcaraz Trilogy—set the tone for what happened all match long.

Said Brooksby, “I knew what I needed to go out there and do in terms of a strategy from my end, and, you know, he's a physical, strong player. I wasn't able to dictate the points to the strategy that I wanted to.” In the face of such variety and power, how could he? Toss in Alcaraz’s unsurpassed footspeed and it was nearly impossible for Brooksby to gain the upper hand in most of the rallies. In the first two sets, Brooksby struck just four winners, while Alcaraz hit 31.

But in the third set, Brooksby rallied strongly. He broke, held, broke again, aided by increased length off the forehand. With Brooksby serving at 3-0, a fourth set seemed likely. But Alcaraz remained unblinking. Said Alcaraz, “Well, I think Brooksby started to play really, really well at the beginning of the third set. It was really tough, playing aggressive. So I just thought that I had to be focused, to stay playing at the same level. I knew I was going to have my chances to break his serve and stay in the set.”

Meanwhile, Brooksby sagged. “I had a letdown game,” said Brooksby, “which is understandable, but still, I mean, I still don't believe that should happen. But it did, and I don't think I reacted to that very well. I knew his energy would come back up, he'd be more excited to get back in the set, and I knew I had to stay on top of it and keep competing.”

If Brooksby remained tenacious, as the third set continued, Alcaraz was the one with more ideas. He went on to hit another 15 winners in the third set, winning six straight games. “Well, I played amazing today, said Alcaraz. “I would say the best match at the moment. Yeah, I feel great to have played this match today, a great level. I'm really happy with my performance today.”