How Alcaraz is 'pushing opponents to the limit'

Carlos Alcaraz produces fearless ballstriking and thrilling shotmaking that makes him one of the most exciting players to watch on the ATP Tour. Still at the youthful age of 21, the Spaniard may dabble in his fair share of high-risk, high-reward plays, but key metrics confirm that Alcaraz’s electrifying groundstrokes are what have anchored his strong 2024 season, which has him on the cusp on qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Alcaraz is second in both forehand (8.62) and backhand shot quality (8.24) this season, according to Tennis Data Innovations, in partnership with TennisViz. Shot Quality is calculated in real-time by analysing each shot's speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent.

Shot Quality Update 🚨

The latest top 5⃣ leaderboards below👀

See the thread for serve, return and backhand...

Context: Tour Avg.
Serve 7.9
Return 6.5
Forehand 7.5
Backhand 7.1#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/NrGNOOSyNh

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) September 12, 2024

“I think I'm always pushing my opponents to the limit. I'm trying to be aggressive all the time, just to play different shots,” Alcaraz recently said. “I think that I'm going to say the worst thing for my opponent, they are not going to know what's going to be next. They have to be aggressive. They have to defend well if they want to be alive in the point."

The data and on-court results go hand in hand. Alcaraz has won two of the season’s four majors and this year's ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. The only player ahead of Alcaraz in forehand and backhand shot quality is rival and World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who captured both hard-court Slams this season. [Click here to read our feature on Sinner’s baseline domination in 2024].

Forehand Shot Quality (2024)

Backhand Shot Quality (2024)

Alcaraz’s firepower rarely drops off, no matter which wing or where he is placed in the court. His topspin forehand speed of 78 mph is 3 mph above the Tour average and his forehand rpms of 3208 vs. the Tour average of 2708 rpms reflects his weight of shot. His topspin backhand speed of 73 mph is 5 mph faster than the Tour average and his topspin backhand rpms is 2005, well above the Tour average of 1775.

On return, the 15-time tour-level titlist is third in return shot quality (7.78), behind second-placed Daniil Medvedev (7.78) and Sinner (8.04).

Narrowly trailing the Spaniard in all three categories is the same man directly below him in the PIF ATP Rankings: Novak Djokovic, who has claimed 99 tour-level trophies throughout his illustrious career.

The Serbian defeated Alcaraz in the Paris Olympics gold-medal match to capture his career ‘Golden Slam’ — winning all four majors and an Olympic gold medal. In a hard-fought battle, Djokovic produced arguably his best performance of the season just weeks after falling to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year.

Return Shot Quality (2024)

Traditional thinking may be that this far into the season, the game's best servers would also be among the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, in good position for a spot at the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals. But in TDI's shot quality serve leaders, only one of the Top 5 players is also Top 10 in the Race: the 6'6" Zverev.

In fact, this year's Rome champion is the only player featured on all four shot quality lists. 

Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, towering at 6'8", stands above the rest with his serve shot quality (9.38). The 21-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough season, having won his maiden tour-level title in Lyon and later reaching the Wimbledon fourth round. At the All England Club, he upset 20th seed Sebastian Korda in the first round, during which Mpetshi Perricard hammered 51 aces.

Also among the serve quality leaders is Milos Raonic, not far behind (9.32) Mpetshi Perricard. Reilly Opelka and Hubert Hurkacz are among the Top 5.

Serve Shot Quality (2024)