Carlos Alcaraz has roared back into form since his return from a serious wrist injury, but one statistic suggests there is one area of his game that can be improved.
The best players in the game tend to feature near the top of the statistics for all the major metrics in the game and Alcaraz’s name is at the top of the returning stats for the ATP in the last year, as he has won a higher percentage of first serve return points than any of his rivals.
Alcaraz is fourth in the list for second serve return points won, with Jannik Sinner at the top of those statistics.
Yet the service statistics throw up some interesting numbers that suggest Alcaraz still has work to do in that area of his game.
When it comes to percentage of first serves in court, Alcaraz is down in 13th position with 66.8% of first serves in court, which is a long way behind Argentina’s Mariano Navone at the top of the league with 71.7% and Alexander Zverev in second place on 71.6%.
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A more alarming statistic for Alcaraz may be first-serve points won on the ATP Tour over the last year, as he is down in a lowly 43rd place in a list led by Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz has won 72.7% of his first serve points compared to Sinner’s immaculate record of 81.1%.
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According to leading coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Alcaraz’s best quality is his ability to find a way to win when he is not at his best and that may be highlighted by these serving statistics.
“Carlos Alcaraz is the tennis star of his time. When I write his name, I’m sure it’s synonymous with ‘incredible tennis’,” wrote Mouratoglou on LinkedIn.
“But I think his greatest quality is something else. He knows how to win when he plays badly.
“It’s one of the biggest assets a champion can have. It didn’t work in Shanghai, but it was typically that the week before. Not at his best level. A lot of unforced errors.
“In fact, the power is there. The touch is there. Everything is there. But he’s lacking consistency. He just needs to play more and more.
“The more he competes, the more he wins, the better he plays. It’s rare to see him playing well straight away.”
Alcaraz changed his service motion in the opening months of 2026 and that may explain why his accuracy is not all he would want, but it has still been good enough to see him win the Australian Open title at the start of the year and the Japan Open last week.
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