From shot of the year to bummer of the year: Carlos Alcaraz’s most lethal weapons, his legs, betrayed him

PRESS CONFERENCE: Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros

Carlos Alcaraz’s legs may be the most reliably lethal weapons in men’s tennis. On Friday, though, they brought his own quest for his first title at Roland Garros to a disappointingly anti-climactic end.

During the second set of his semifinal with Novak Djokovic on Friday, the 20-year-old Spaniard used those legs to race from the net to the baseline, just in time to spin and flick a forehand pass at a previously unheard-of angle for a winner. It was such a jaw-dropping shot that Djokovic himself could only throw his hands up in an “I’m not worthy” gesture of awe. Alcaraz responded the way he always responds to his daredevil genius: With an ear-to-ear grin.

One set later, though, that smile had vanished, and Djokovic’s appreciation had turned to concern. Alcaraz suddenly couldn’t move his legs at all. He was stuck in place on the court, a victim of a full-body cramp that immediately forced him to the sideline. While he would return to the court and play out the last two sets, he mustered just one more game, in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 defeat that sent Djokovic to his seventh Roland Garros final.

In the span of an hour, tennis went from the shot of the year to the bummer of the year.

For two sets, the second meeting between Alcaraz and Djokovic looked destined to be every bit as exciting and competitive as the first one, 13 months ago in Madrid, had been. But it was also a match that defied standard expectations from the start.

Many of us had anticipated that the younger and bigger-hitting Alcaraz would take control in the early going, and that Djokovic would play a positional chess game and gradually work his way into the match, the way he normally likes to do in best-of-five. Instead, Djokovic came out clocking his ground strokes, took the initiative from Alcaraz, and showed that, even at 36, he’s still a dazzling shot-maker in his own right.

In the second set Alcaraz responded, freeing up his swing and leveling the match with a series of late-set forehand bombs. At the same time, Djokovic called the trainer for a right-arm issue, and his first-serve speed dropped. Was the 36-year-old about to be left in the dust by the 20-year-old on an 87-degree day in Paris?

It would have made sense in most cases, but in this case the opposite happened: Alcaraz was the one whose body broke down, while Djokovic soldiered ahead. It wasn’t age that made the difference, it was inexperience in big-stage matches like this.

“I disappointed myself honestly,” Alcaraz said. “In a match like this, coming to this match with great feeling, feeling great physically, and, yeah, cramping at the end of the second set, beginning of the third set, it was really disappointing.”

Alcaraz said the tension of the moment, and the sight of Djokovic across the net, got to him.

“If someone says that he [goes on] court with no nerves playing against Novak, he lies,” Alcaraz said.

“I started match really nervous. The tension of the first set, the second set, it was really intense two sets as well. Really good rallies, tough rallies, you know, drop shots, sprints, rallies. It’s a combination of a lot of things. But, you know, the main thing, it was the tension.”

If someone says that he [goes on] court with no nerves playing against Novak, he lies. Carlos Alcaraz

This isn’t Alcaraz’s first bout with cramps. He had them against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open in 2021 (a match he won), and against Jannik Sinner earlier this year in Miami (a match he lost). He says he’ll try to learn from it. Maybe that means better hydration, or not playing with quite as much reckless abandon. But nerves aren’t an easy thing to tame, and the best remedy may just be experience.

That’s something Djokovic obviously has a wealth of, and he showed his mastery of marathon-style tennis yet again on Friday. Even if Alcaraz had remained healthy, Djokovic wasn’t going anywhere. Before this match, I gave Djokovic the edge in intangibles, and Alcaraz the edge in shot-making. But through two sets, the Serb showed that he still has plenty of magic, and pop, left in his racquet. That, rather than his veteran status, is what he credited for this win.

“I don’t think experience can be a decisive factor in matches like this,” Dkpkovic said. “It can help maybe manage your emotions or energy expenditure, I would say, but it’s not gonna win you a match.”

“You have to really come out with a clear game plan, with right execution. So that’s what I tried to do, and I think the quality of my tennis today was really high, and best match of the tournament, came at the right time.”

Two of the Big 3 may not be playing at the moment, but their era lives on with Djokovic. Defying the expectations of age, and keeping the younger generations at bay, is just what they do.