By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday January 18, 2022

 

The youngest player in the draw is looking like a contender for a deep run after his Day 3 triumph.

Photo Source: Getty

Carlos Alcaraz is a fast learner. Check that. Let's go with SUPER FAST. Now, let's add some context: The 2022 Australian Open is competing in just his fifth Grand Slam main draw. In his fourth he became the youngest men’s singles quarterfinalist in US Open history and the youngest man to reach the last eight at any Grand Slam since 1990.

Getting up to speed on the ATP Tour is not supposed to be this easy but 18-year-old Alcaraz has a habit of making it look like he's taking candy from a baby when he's out on court, and he’s at it again this week in Melbourne.

Hide your Skittles.



The 31st-seeded Spaniard has breezed through two rounds in Melbourne and he's done it "cold", after completely skipping the lead up events, in order to have a proper six-week off-season training block.

Having not seen him play since last autumn, and aware of the fact that Alcaraz came down with Covid in late November, it was hard to know what to expect. Yes, he was brilliant in 2021, yes he’s a player with a bright future, but how would the youngster turn up at this year’s Australian Open, coming in to a Slam without any matches under his belt and with expectations ratcheted quite a bit compared to where they were last year when he lost in the second round on his Grand Slam main draw debut?

We have our answer now, and it is emphatic. In round one Alcaraz blasted past the tricky Chilean Alejandro Tabilo, who warmed up brilliantly at ATP Cup and completed a successful qualifying run in Melbourne, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. No contest.

Today, facing Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, an experienced veteran with an abundance of talents, the aggressive Alcaraz was on him from the start. He pounced on the World No.39 and never relented. It took Lajovic two sets to get acclimated to the high intensity push that the young Spaniard was making, and even when he gathered himself and pushed back, he couldn’t steal away with a set.

The end product, a 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 victory for Alcaraz to place him in the third round at the Australian Open for the first time. 12 months ago, it would have been hard to imagine Alcaraz competing – let alone defeating – a tried-and-true veteran like Matteo Berrettini in the third round, but after watching this young phenom storm through the Melbourne gates in 2022, it’s clear that he’s in there with a fighting chance.

The pair will meet for the second time on Day 6. Alcaraz scored the upset in their previous meeting, snagging a third-set tiebreak in Vienna.

Oddsmakers clearly are on the same page. Brad Gilbert tweeted current odds to win the trophy before Day 3 began and they listed Alcaraz as the fifth most likely to come away with the title next weekend, at 20 to 1 (Berrettini was 28 to 1!). Odds tend to be a bit off-the-wall, for sure, but this could be a case of the oddsmakers recognizing a lethal force when they see one.

Success for teenagers on the ATP does not come easy, if at all, but Carlos looks primed to beat the odds in that regard.

What has held back teenagers on the ATP Tour, in general, over the last few decades has been two things: 1. The Big Four dominating the sport and basically giving no hope to anybody, and 2. Physical fitness and strength, which tends to develop a little later than pure ball striking skills and other assets.

With the Big Four hardly present in Melbourne (Just 35-year-old Nadal and 34-year-old Murray, with Djokovic deported and Federer out indefinitely), we know that’s not the problem that it used to be.

One look at Alcaraz and it's easy to see that he is one of those rare specimens that has been born to be a tour de force on tour. At 18, he looks to be as physically developed as most players that are ten years his senior.

Then there is the game, which sparkles, and continues to improve by leaps and bounds. Alcaraz isn’t one of those tennis players that has too many tools in his bag, so he naturally keeps his tactics relatively simple. That works in his favor as well. He doesn’t have to do a ton of thinking out there, just needs to execute his patterns, pick his spots, blanket the court and let his evolving tennis shine.

Alcaraz hits the cover off the ball, puts tons of “work” on his shots and understands the patterns of play that allow him to dominate.

Facing Berrettini is a tough ask for any level of player, but if there is an 18-year-old capable of rising to that challenge and, crazy as it sounds, making a push for the title, at this moment it is Carlos Alcaraz.