The French Open 2024 final began with Carlos Alcaraz attacking Alexander Zverev from the word go. Among the many who were enjoying this match very closely, 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick was one of them. Roddick was also online on X while watching the match on Sunday morning and spoke about what impressed him about both the players in what he called a ‘game of chess’.
Andy Roddick tweeted first about Carlos Alcaraz and after the Spaniard won the first set, the American pointed out a major aspect in which the youngster has improved in the last few years. That aspect helped Alcaraz beat Zverev 6-3 in the first set.
With his expert analysis, the former World No.1 asserted that Carlos Alcaraz was mixing his backhands up nicely when it came to the altitude and pace of those. Indeed, Alcaraz proved to be attacking and unpredictable courtesy his slice backhands, flat and powerful baseline backhands, the loopy backhands which bounce high on the other side of a clay court as well as the surprise drop shots.
“Alcaraz flashing every different ball flight on BH. Massive improvement compared to a couple of years ago. Slice, flat, loop, droppers ….”
But Roddick also pointed out that it is not easy to get the ball past a player like Zverev, who has excellent reach and plays the game strategically. Alcaraz’s tactics though, made the World No.4 work harder and not hit shots from the same spot.
Alcaraz flashing every different ball flight on BH. Massive improvement compared to a couple of years ago. Slice, flat, loop, droppers …. Zverev doesn’t just miss balls randomly. He’s too good. Alcaraz mixing ball flight up to perfection. Zverev not hitting balls consecutively…
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 9, 2024
However, after Alexander Zverev bounced back to win the second and third sets, 6-2 and 7-5, Andy Roddick recognised a huge adjustment the US Open 2020 finalist managed to make as the second set went along.
Roddick believes that Zverev cleverly decided to play more cross court shots and play lesser shots that are loopy. As a result, it cut Alcaraz’s chances of playing loopy backhands himself, making the German dictate terms more with his power. It also made Zverev break Alcaraz’s service games more as compared to the first set and that made a huge difference going into the fourth set.
Zverev big adjustment made. Has a harder time flattening out FH when he goes line and inside out. Does it better cross ….. has stopped trying to force it in loopy line, and has started going after it more aggressively cross. Has taken the flight convo re Chucksters BH out of… https://t.co/gHiNBTOowI
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 9, 2024
Andy Roddick also pointed out later that Alexander Zverev was successfully going after Carlos Alcaraz’s forehands, which is considered the Spaniard’s strengths as he changed his strategy in order to not become predictable himself. In their rallies, as rightly mentioned, Zverev took risks earlier as compared to the first set even though he could have lost points with it.
But those risks paid off and got Alcaraz off the rails successfully as he lashed out at the umpire for the variable bounce across both sides of the court since he was struggling to read the ball. In the third set, Alcaraz was 5-2 up at one point but Zverev won 5 games in a row impressively to take the set, 7-5.
Zverev consistently attacking Carlos FH now off both sides. Not taking nearly as many BH cross court. Taking risks earlier in rallies at lines. Pulling it off for now but is definitely working, and is also higher risk
— andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 9, 2024
The final of the French Open was turning out to be a gripping contest at the time of writing this report. In the fourth set, Carlos Alcaraz was 4-1 up as the Spaniard managed to get his composure back. The match might very well go down to the 5th set for the decider. US fans can watch the French Open final live on the Tennis Channel, NBC, and Peacock.
