In Miami, Miomir Kecmanovic raised his game—but Carlos Alcaraz saw that raise and went all in for the win

HIGHLIGHTS: Alcaraz edges Kecmanovic in third-set tiebreaker

At the start of the third set of his Miami quarterfinal on Thursday, Carlos Alcaraz hit a 100-m.p.h. forehand into his opponent Miomir Kecmanovic’s backhand corner. Then he followed it up with a sweeping crosscourt forehand, which went even faster, and which ended the rally. Watching from the Tennis Channel booth, commentator Jason Goodall echoed the reaction of millions of viewers with his two-word description of the point:

No way.

It was a “no way” kind of night inside Hard Rock Stadium. Alcaraz’s 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Kecmanovic featured some of the most blistering and spectacular shot-making, and equally blistering and spectacular defense, that the tours have produced so far in 2022. Over two hours and 23 minutes, neither man pulled any punches or gave up on any balls. There were fizzing forehands, frozen-rope backhands, squash shots, drop shots, tweeners, lobs, half-volley winners, touch-volley winners, and high backhand volley winners. And not many breaks—two for the Spaniard, one for the Serb.

By now, most of us know how well the 18-year-old Alcaraz can play, and most of the fans in Miami were there to see him put on his high-octane show. But if the 22-year-old Kecmanovic wasn’t as eye-catching, he was nearly as good. Over 201 points, he committed just 16 errors, and down the stretch in the final set, I can remember him making roughly two mistakes. He wasn’t playing safe, either; he was matching Alcaraz, bolo punch for bolo punch. Kecmanovic hit fewer winners than Alcaraz—52 to 19—but that’s only because the Spaniard’s surreal speed makes it hard for anyone to put the ball past him.

Alcaraz made 75 percent of his first serves, won 78 percent of those points, hit 35 forehand winners, and was 29 of 34 at the net. Yet for much of the night it looked like he was going to finish second-best. It was Kecmanovic who raised his game to win the final three points of the first-set tiebreaker. It was Kecmanovic who put a running forehand smack into the corner to go up 15-30 with Alcaraz serving at 4-5 in the third set. And it was Kecmanovic who played the steadier final-set tiebreaker, and who hit a forehand pass to go up 5-3. It was the second time he was two points from the win.

But it was Alcaraz who saw Kecmanovic’s raise, and went all in for the victory. From 15-30 down at 4-5, he charged the net two times, and hit three winners. From 3-5 down in the deciding breaker, he hit a good drop volley, a good down-the-line backhand, and an incredible backhand pass on the full sprint at match point.

“I knew Miomir was playing well, he had chances to win,” Alcaraz said. “I did a great job at [4-5], 15-30. The crowd was unbelievable, and they helped me tonight.”

At 18, Alcaraz probably isn’t close to what he’s going to be. He started slowly in this one, got nervous at the end of the first set, and was more erratic than his opponent late in the third set. But he already has an innate ability to rescue himself from his mistakes by coming up with shots that his opponents can’t counter. At match point, Kecmanovic hit a half volley that looked like it was going to be good enough to win the point—until Alcaraz came tearing out of the far corner of the court, caught up to the ball just before the second bounce, and bunted it perfectly into the corner to end the match.

There was no answer for that shot, and there may be no answers for Alcaraz’s opponents in the near future.