What it’s like facing Carlos Alcaraz, the new king of tennis, according to six Australian opponents

Borrowed from Roger Federer is the Swiss superstar’s deftness at the net and remarkable ability to conjure the improbable. His shoemaking inspires awe from opponents.

Gleaned from Novak Djokovic is the swiftness of his court coverage and surgical precision, plus an exceptional ability to switch from defence to offence in the space of one shot.

And harnessed from Rafael Nadal is supreme power and spin on his groundstrokes, and a refusal to concede an inch, no matter the circumstances in a match or brilliance of a rival.

Over the past three years, six Australians have tested their skills on the main ATP Tour against the world No.1 and new Wimbledon champion. It can be a nightmare; just one Aussie has prevailed.

Over recent days at Flushing Meadows, they have told CODE Sports what it’s like to face Alcaraz, the new face of men’s tennis.

2023 Cincinnati QF: Carlos Alcaraz d. Max Purcell 4-6 6-3 6-4

Max Purcell has sliced and diced his way into the world’s top 50 with a style different to many players on tour. The Sydneysider, who won a Wimbledon doubles title with Matt Ebden last year, is blessed with a quality serve and hands at the net, but can also grind from the baseline.

The 25-year-old, who plays compatriot Chris O’Connell in the opening round of this US Open, adopted an extremely aggressive approach against Alcaraz in their recent Cincinnati quarter-final. For the first hour of the match, the approach worked; Purcell clearly troubled the Spaniard with tactics that were a throwback to how tennis used to be played.

“Bar an early break in the second, I really would have liked to see it get to 3-all or 4-all in the second, because I felt like I had his number for a bit there,” Purcell said.

“I thought, ‘I’m not going to go and play him from the back. That is stupid. He is the best in the world at that. And I am not stupid’. But he has never played anyone who has serve-volleyed, not with my serve or with my volleys, so I thought, ‘OK. To have a shot, I need to come to the net and put pressure on’.

“I serve-volleyed religiously in the first and the second set. I was not giving him a second. The guy just wants rhythm. He wants time on the ball. Why would I give him any of that? I just tried to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible, which actually made me end up feeling quite comfortable.”

Alcaraz ultimately adjusted to the threat posed by Purcell and progressed to a final against Djokovic, who edged him in an epic considered the best ATP Tour match this year. Purcell was pleased with his bid against a champion who possesses an unparalleled skillset.

“The guy’s skills are second to none. The stuff that he does, I mean, turn it up. Some of his shit, the stuff that he can come up with on court, (it’s incredible),” Purcell said.

“(You think), ‘You’re not getting to that’. And then not only will he get to it, but he will do something with it. Carlos can get to balls that are absurd.”

2023 Cincinnati Rd 2: Carlos Alcaraz d. Jordan Thompson 7-5 4-6 6-3

Davis Cup stalwart Jordan Thompson already had three matches under his belt, including a win over American veteran John Isner, when he met Alcaraz in the Cincinnati Masters. The Australian has enjoyed a solid summer in North America and played with verve against the world No.1 in an almighty tussle on slick hardcourts.

Thompson, who plays Botic van de Zandschulp in the opening round of the US Open, wears his heart on his sleeve. In an arduous encounter, he marvelled at Alcaraz’s demeanour and said the younger man had reminded him of why he first picked up a tennis racquet.

“He is the one tennis player who smiles the most,” Thompson said. “Obviously I am a lot older than him but I was thinking, ‘How are you smiling so much?’ It is great to see. I mean, obviously everyone gets affected on the court and so does he.

“I was thinking, ‘Geez. He is just a kid. I need to learn from him. He is just having fun’. Whereas sometimes I just get stuck in a rut where I am not having too much fun. I have to realise that is what I am out there for.”

Instead of wanting to wipe the grin off Alcaraz’s face, Thompson found the Spaniard’s approach refreshing in a sport with its share of tantrums.

“It is great to see. Everyone enjoys seeing it,” he said. “I am just thinking, ‘Shit. Sometimes I’m not having too much fun. I’m not smiling.’ He makes you realise you have to be out there for fun. And he is having fun. So hats off to him.”

Thompson has had the distinction of playing Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray on the biggest courts in the world and has no qualms in putting Alcaraz in their company.

“They are all very different. It is so hard to describe them all but they are not handing out points. You have to go and earn them. It is incredible to play all of them,” he said.

2023 Queens F: Carlos Alcaraz d. Alex de Minaur 6-4 6-4

The rest of the ATP Tour may feel that Arthur Rinderknech owes them an apology for Alcaraz’s avalanche of excellence through the grass court season in London. Had the 28-year-old held his nerve during his first-round clash against Alcaraz at Queens in June, things might well have played out differently at Wimbledon.

Playing his first match after cramping badly against Djokovic in a semi-final at Roland Garros, Alcaraz scraped through in a third set tiebreaker against the French lucky loser.

But the Spaniard is a quick learner. Playing in just his third grass court tournament, he adjusted to the tricky surface and was in strong form by the time he met Alex de Minaur in the decider.

Former US Open quarter-finalist de Minaur, who faces a qualifier in the opening round in New York, said the key to Alcaraz’s rise had been his increased discipline.

“I think tweaking a couple of things,” de Minaur. “He used to make a lot more mistakes before, and now he‘s reeled that in and that has made him the player he is now.”

A winner of seven ATP Tour titles, the 13th-ranked Australian enjoys playing on grass, which tends to enhance his all-court game and exceptional court coverage. Those strengths came to the fore in an opening-round triumph over dual-Wimbledon champion Andy Murray at Queens, and also in his semi-final triumph over fourth-ranked Holger Rune.

Similar to their epic in Barcelona a year earlier, de Minaur had chances to seize the upper hand against Alcaraz, yet was denied by some exceptional play.

“Tennis is all about moments. Again, I felt like I had my chances. I had two break points at 4-3,” de Minaur told CODE in New York.

“It is one of those match-ups where I think I match up OK against him. I’ve played well against him in the past and hopefully, you know, we get many more matches.”

Having claimed a significant grass court title in just his third tournament on the surface, Alcaraz arrived at Wimbledon full of confidence and was able to continue his winning tear.

2023 Indian Wells Rd 2: Carlos Alcaraz d. Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 6-3

Thanasi Kokkinakis is no stranger to mercurial talents, given his friendship with Nick Kyrgios. The South Australian plays with passion and is an admirer of those who show flair on the court.

Leading into their second-round clash at Indian Wells in March, Kokkinakis was full of praise for Alcaraz, who is as formidable on hard courts as he is on grass and clay.

“He plays tennis the right way. He is always up and about. Always smiling,” Kokkinakis said.

“I think the crowd loves watching him because his energy is almost contagious. He’s one of my favourite players to watch. Whenever he is playing, I try to tune in if I have the time.

“He is a really good guy. Always happy. You can just tell he loves the game as well.”

The Indian Wells Masters, played in the Coachella desert against a rocky mountain backdrop, is considered the biggest tournament outside the slams. It is a superb setting in which to watch top tennis but to his chagrin, Kokkinakis had the best seat in tennis when opposing Alcaraz, who went on to win the title.

Kokkinakis, who plays a qualifier in the first round in New York, said the challenge for Alcaraz was actually reining in his ambitions during a point.

“I didn’t enjoy that too much. I was spanked. That scoreline is honestly more respectful than how it felt out there. But I just love the way he goes about it,” Kokkinakis said.

“Novak has mentioned that he is a combination of a lot of players, a lot of good players, all in one. When it looks like he tries not to do much on court, and not be too creative and crazy and he keeps it a little bit together, he is as good as they get. He is very special.”

Kokkinakis beat Federer when the Swiss master was ranked No.1. He has also played Djokovic, Nadal and Murray in grand slam matches. But he said Alcaraz was at another level.

“He is as good as I have played, I feel like,” he said. “He is already pretty much as good as it gets but for the longevity of his career, if he keeps up that excitement and happiness on the court, he has a chance to be one of the best ever, if not the best.”

2022 Barcelona SF: Carlos Alcaraz d. Alex de Minaur 6-7 (4) 7-6 (4) 6-4

De Minaur was almost certainly aware earlier than any other Australian, and most of the world, of the emerging new force in tennis. The Australian star’s mother, Esther, is Spanish and the world No.13 has spent almost half his life based in the Spanish coastal city of Alicante.

The Sydney-born right-hander was assisted in his development by Tennis Australia and is passionate about a country he has led with great distinction in the Davis Cup. But he is well-respected in Spanish tennis circles, which led to opportunities to witness the talents of Alcaraz well before the marvel from Murcia was a star.

“I saw him quite early in some of the tournaments and I was able to practice with him a couple of times before he really stepped out onto the tour,” de Minaur said.

“We used to get a couple of hits in and we played an exhibition match as well. We have played plenty of practice sets as well and he has always been such a dangerous player.”

Their maiden meeting on tour came in Barcelona, a few weeks after Alcaraz scored his first significant hardcourt title, at the Miami Masters in March 2022. Having been blessed with the stardom of Nadal for almost two decades, the crowd in attendance at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona was buzzing about the newcomer.

“It was a great atmosphere there. And 100 per cent they were going for him (because) a lot of people in Spain don’t know that I have that Spanish connection,” de Minaur said.

Although clay is de Minaur’s least-favoured surface, the right-hander played a superb semi-final against Alcaraz at the oldest club in Spain and gained confidence from the match.

“I had two match points and it was an epic battle. I look back on it now and I think it kind of showed that, you know, I’m right there,” he said.

2021 Winston Salem Rd 1: Carlos Alcaraz d. Alexei Popyrin 6-7 (9) 6-1 7-6 (1)

Alexei Popyrin was intrigued about the talent of Alcaraz when drawn to play the then-teenager at an event held the week prior to the 2021 US Open. The Australian, who is pitted against a qualifier in his opening round match in New York this week, was well aware that the Spaniard “had all the hype around him at the time”.

“I had never practiced with him or played against him, so I was interested going out on court, just about how the ball was going to come from him,” Popyrin said.

“And, you know, he impressed me a lot. I won the first set 7-6 … and it was super, super tight. I went to the second set thinking that, you know, his level would drop a little bit.

“He was an 18-year-old player (who) hadn‘t had that much experience on tour. And that was a big mistake on my end. He killed me 6-1 … and his level did not drop one bit. He was the same, intense and focused. I came out into the third set thinking, ‘OK, I have to step up again’. And again, it was six in the third.”

Popyrin approached Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, after the testing loss to pass on his praise.

“After I got off the court, I told Juan Carlos, ‘You’ve got some player on your hands’,” Popyrin said.

“I’ve never played a player who hits it as big as him, who can mix the ball as good as him. Even when he was 18, he was an unbelievable player.”

2020 Roland Garros Q1: Aleks Vukic d. Carlos Alcaraz 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-3

There is a beauty about watching tennis in Paris in Spring, where the brilliant blue skies provide a vivid contrast to the red clay at a venue surrounded by botanical gardens. The fans who attend Roland Garros are passionate and on a warm sunny day, there are few better places to take in a match, particularly when a local hopeful is playing with panache.

When Aleks Vukic stepped out against Alcaraz in 2020, in a historical Roland Garros delayed until late September because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he felt strangely self-conscious.

Although it was the first round of qualifying, there was a throng of people gathered to watch. And the Australian, who was debuting at Roland Garros, was aware who the drawcard was.

“I remember there were a lot of people watching that match and I knew they weren‘t there to watch me, so it was definitely about this kid. And I was kinda like, ‘OK. This is the guy’,” he said.

“It was the same kind of thing with (Jannik) Sinner. You know what this guy is going to do. There was a lot of hype around him.”

But that was not the reason Vukic, a three-time All American when attending college at the University of Illinois, felt a level of uncertainty. A student of tennis, he was a massive fan of Alcaraz’s coach, Ferrero, during the former grand slam champion’s playing days.

“There was an intimidation factor. But it was more that Ferrero was there, a former world No.1,” Vukic said.

“He has a former world No.1 as coach. And I was there by myself. I didn’t have a coach at the time, so I was by myself. I can clearly remember thinking, ‘What does Ferrero think about my forehand? Does he have any tips for me? Is he looking at me?’”

Then 17, Alcaraz had returned on fire after the Covid-19 hiatus. He won an ATP Challenger Tour title in Trieste in August and reached the decider of another in Cordenons a week later.

But Vukic, who will play 12th seed Alexander Zverev in round one of the US Open, had enjoyed a good week in Prostejov leading into Roland Garros, stringing together four wins.

“I knew he was eventually going to be a star. But I didn’t think it was going to be like it has been. I knew he would be a star player in the future though,” he said.

“But I had enjoyed some decent results leading into it as well. I had beaten (Jiri) Vesely, a good Czech player, on clay the week before. So I was picking up some form as well.”

The Sydneysider rallied from a testing position in the second set to do what no other Australian has managed, beating Alcaraz 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-3.

“He had a massive game, Carlos, even back then. He would murder the ball,” Vukic said.

“But it was pretty lively that day in Paris. Very hot. So I was getting a lot from my serve and forehand.

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“I was down a few match points against him in that match, actually. But I was able to sneak that second set and then played a really good third set.

“It felt like I had caused a little bit of an upset, which is bizarre, because he is still so young. It was one of those matches where I thought, ‘At least I got him now, because I don’t know what he is going to be like in two years‘ time’. And now look at him go.

“What he is doing now is just insane, because he is still so young. It is crazy.”