Sam Querrey has highlighted a new Carlos Alcaraz shot that is Roger Federer-esque.
Since coming back from a four-month injury lay-off, Alcaraz has been trying to rediscover the tennis that took him to No 1 in the world earlier this year and the Australian Open title.
After making the quarter-finals at the US Open and starring at the Laver Cup, Alcaraz looked close to his best when he won the Japan Open title in Tokyo earlier this week.
The 23-year-old beat Jiri Lehecka in straight sets to claim his first individual title since February, in a performance that left former American stars Querrey and Steve Johnson mightily impressed.
The former was particularly taken by Alcaraz’s short angled slice, something he says is right out of the Federer playbook.
More Carlos Alcaraz News
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
Querrey said on Nothing Major, “I noticed this at the Laver Cup and Tokyo, he’s got the drop shot, which is the greatest of all time. He’s using the short slice, the one that Fed[erer] used, a lot.”
Co-host Johnson chimed up, in a sardonic manner, and pointed out that other players, such as himself, used that shot as well, it just wasn’t as “notable”.
Former world No 11 Querrey quipped, “Sorry, he’s taking a page out of your playbook and he must be watching your highlights. He’s using the short little backhand slice now and he’s adding things to his game.”
During Team Europe’s Laver Cup win over Team World last month, Taylor Fritz was at a loss to find a solution to this particular shot in his narrow defeat to the Spaniard.
Team World coaches Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter correctly identified it was an issue but none of them had the answer on how to deal with it.
Incidentally, former top 30 player Johnson talked up Alcaraz’s other-worldly drop-shotting abilities and just how fleet of foot the 23-year-old is.
And while Alcaraz’s serve appears to not be as effective since tweaking it following his injury, Johnson thinks that the seven-time major winner’s health issues have been “put to bed”.
He added, “It’s crazy, dude. The drop shots he hits are absolutely insane. You assume he is not going to hit 30 a match but he does and he hits every one really good.
“I have never seen him brick one on break point down that hits a service line like mere mortals do. I think this is a big win for Carlos.
“If there was any ounce of doubt in his mental state about his wrist, I think it’s gone, especially after the US Open, Laver Cup, and Japan. He’s put that to bed, he’s healthy, he’s ready to go. He is electric to watch. His movement is a joke. I don’t know if there’s ever been a more explosive athlete, it’s crazy.”
READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz reveals if he is ‘surprised’ by Alexander Zverev winning two Grand Slams
