Novak Djokovic was surprised to see Carlos Alcaraz adapt to grass tennis as quickly as he did; something that allowed him to win the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
Novak Djokovic was the favourite ahead of the 2023 Wimbledon, something even Alcaraz recognised. It was not a huge surprise because the Spaniard himself was quite unsure of his grass tennis when he touched down in London a few weeks ago.
Playing at the Cinch Championships helped Alcaraz as he quickly gained confidence on the surface, something that was only aided by him actually winning the event and his first ATP title on the surface. It's something that surprised Djokovic, as he revealed after the Wimbledon loss, but not only Djokovic. It likely surprised Alcaraz himself and many others in tennis.
But, yeah, grass, I must say he surprised me. He surprised everyone how quickly he adapted to grass this year. He hasn't had too many wins on grass in the last two years that he played. Obviously him coming from clay, having the kind of style that he has.
I think Queen's helped him a lot. He was close to lose that first match, opening match, in Queen's. Then he started to gain momentum, more and more wins against really good players.
Being able to quickly adapt to the surface was vital in his victory at the 2023 event but he was likely aided by the way the venue generally plays. Djokovic talked about that admitting that the somewhat slower grass courts at Wimbledon suit baseline players like Alcaraz, but he didn't just impress with that part of the game. There was plenty of variety which surprised Djokovic.
Wimbledon courts are slower than Aorangi courts or maybe Queen's courts. It's more suitable for I guess the baseliners like he is. I must say the slices, the kind of chipping returns, the net play, it's very impressive.
I didn't expect him to play so well this year on grass, but he's proven that he's the best player in the world, no doubt. He's playing some fantastic tennis on different surfaces and he deserves to be where he is.
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