Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed a brilliant clay-court season, reaching the final of all four events he played.
Bouncing back from a disappointing showing at the Miami Open, Alcaraz won his maiden Monte-Carlo Masters title, defeating Lorenzo Musetti in the final.
Returning home for the Barcelona Open, Alcaraz qualified for another final but came up short against Denmark’s Holger Rune as he struggled with an injury.
Skipping the Madrid Open with that same injury, Alcaraz marked his return to action with a win at the Italian Open, beating his greatest rival, Jannik Sinner, in the final.
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The Spaniard went on to win Roland Garros for the second year running, taking down Sinner in one of the greatest Grand Slam finals of all time.
As Alcaraz carries that momentum forward to the grass, a former Wimbledon champion has revealed what she saw the 22-year-old and his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, do in Rome last month.
Marion Bartoli saw Juan Carlos Ferrero teach ‘sceptical’ Carlos Alcaraz a new serve technique in Rome
Appearing on the BBC’s Wimbledon preview, 2013 champion Marion Bartoli recalled what she saw Alcaraz and Ferrero practising in training at the Italian Open.
“I was actually in Rome when [Jannik] Sinner came back to the tour and I saw Carlos Alcaraz every single evening just doing basket after basket of serves, just changing that motion,” she said.
“I have to be honest, at the beginning he was kind of sceptical of what Juan Carlos Ferrero was asking him to do, which was asking him to use the wrist a lot more.
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“That is about having a motion which is more smooth, that wrist action was sometimes a little bit lacking, which is why the serve was slightly too straight, so he couldn’t get the curve or the slice wide serve.”
The Frenchwoman believes the hard work paid off, as evidenced by Alcaraz’s serving performances at the Queen’s Club Championships recently.
“He has been using [the slice wide serve] so much at Queen’s. Every time he was playing against [Jiri] Lehecka he was using that slider constantly in the deuce court,” said Bartoli.
“That wrist action was tricky for him to get at the beginning, that’s why in Rome he was a bit on and off on the serve, but he really picked himself up at Roland Garros and got going on the grass at Queen’s.”
Alcaraz was making aces at will last week on the grass, as the improvements were clear to see.
Carlos Alcaraz’s serving stats at the 2025 Queen’s Club Championships
An average of 12 aces per match was a real improvement on his efforts at the Italian Open (1.8 aces per match) and the French Open (4 aces per match).
It is, of course, easier to rack up the aces on the grass than it is on the clay, although the improvements can still be seen when comparing his efforts at Queen’s in 2023 (his first title) and in 2025.
- Carlos Alcaraz’s average aces per match at Queen’s in 2023 – 5
- Carlos Alcaraz’s average aces per match at Queen’s in 2025 – 12
Only time will tell if Alcaraz can keep those numbers up at Wimbledon, but if he can, it may spell trouble for his rivals.
Carlos Alcaraz’s record at Wimbledon
Despite only visiting the All England Club four times, Alcaraz has already carved out a memorable Wimbledon legacy.
After losing before the quarterfinal stage in 2021 and 2022, the world number two made a breakthrough in 2023, as he began to dominate on the grass.
- 2021 Wimbledon – Carlos Alcaraz lost in 2R to Daniil Medvedev
- 2022 Wimbledon – Carlos Alcaraz lost in 4R to Jannik Sinner
- 2023 Wimbledon – Carlos Alcaraz won the title
- 2024 Wimbledon – Carlos Alcaraz won the title
Alcaraz has won 18 of his 20 matches (90%) at Wimbledon, as he currently rides a 14-match win streak at the event.
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The Spaniard is one of just two active players to have won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, alongside Novak Djokovic, the seven-time champion.
Having contested the last two finals, Alcaraz and Djokovic will head to Wimbledon as two of the pre-tournament favorites.
The 2025 Wimbledon tournament is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 30.