Carlos Alcaraz has continued his stunning run at Wimbledon by battling past Andrey Rublev and into the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz is expecting a tough test against Cam Norrie, with the British number three representing his next Wimbledon opponent.
Toni Nadal thinks only Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner can trouble Alcaraz at Wimbledon, where he is the two-time defending champion.
The Spaniard defeated the Serbian in the 2023 and 2024 finals at the All England Club, as well as beating the Italian in last month’s French Open final.
Alcaraz is now eyeing a third successive title at SW19, and has just picked up his 22nd consecutive ATP Tour-level win.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesWhat Carlos Alcaraz is doing with his forehand that only one other player ever has
He defeated Rublev 6-7(5-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in their round four match, in which one part of his game caught the eye of former player Pat Cash.
Speaking of Alcaraz’s forehand, 1987 Wimbledon champion Cash said on BBC: “Very few players hit with a straight arm at contact.
“There are about four players in the world who have really done that particularly well. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro and Fernando Verdasco. And Leylah Fernandez on the women’s side.
“You get more power out of it but it is really impossible to do. 99.9% of tour players hit it with a bent elbow but for some reason he is able to do that.
“He can produce winners and power from anywhere if he connects perfectly. Most of those players, I would say probably only Del Potro and Alcaraz haven’t had their patches in their forehand when it goes off.
“Even the great Roger Federer when he lost and when his game went off it was the forehand that missed. But Alcaraz and Del Potro just did not do that.
“So I would say there are two players in the history of the game who have consistently made contact with the ball with a straight elbow.
“It is something that is just special to them. You like to see these special people that nobody else can really copy.
“It’s starting to become a bit more common the straight hand forehand but it’s like John McEnroe’s serve. People try and do it and only John McEnroe can serve like McEnroe.
“Federer does some strange things with his head and arm contact, only Federer can do that. So it takes an extreme athlete and talent to be able to do that and we are witnessing one here.”
Pat Cash says Carlos Alcaraz has done something ‘remarkable’ amid latest Wimbledon appearance
Cash, who won his only Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, certainly didn’t end there with his praise of Alcaraz.
The Australian commented during his match with Rublev: “Carlos Alcaraz not growing up playing on grass but winning 32 of his 35 professional games on this surface is quite remarkable.
“There aren’t as many grass-court tournaments as there used to be. A few generations ago, three of the Grand Slams were on the grass.
“The grass has changed, the balls are slower and higher, so it is easier to adjust from clay courts to the grass court. That will have certainly helped him, but you do need all of the skills and he already has all of those.”
Alcaraz is only 22 years old, but has remarkably already clinched five Grand Slam titles in his career so far.
And perhaps equally impressively, he’s already tasted major success on all three surfaces, with two each on grass and clay and one on hard courts.
Roland Garros (Outdoor/Clay)
ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Outdoor/Clay)
ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (Outdoor/Clay)
Rotterdam (Indoor/Hard)
Wimbledon (Outdoor/Grass)
Roland Garros (Outdoor/Clay)
ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (Outdoor/Hard)
London / Queen’s Club (Outdoor/Grass)
ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Outdoor/Clay)
Barcelona (Outdoor/Clay)
ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells (Outdoor/Hard)
Buenos Aires (Outdoor/Clay)
ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (Outdoor/Clay)
Barcelona (Outdoor/Clay)
ATP Masters 1000 Miami (Outdoor/Hard)
Rio de Janeiro (Outdoor/Clay)
Carlos Alcaraz ATP Tour titles
He boasts a stunning 21 ATP Tour titles overall, four of which have come on grass, with 11 on clay and the other six coming on hard.
Despite his clay-based background, the Spaniard has proven his ability and adaptability, with a lot more success certain to arrive in the near future across grass, clay and hard courts.