Carlos Alcaraz is one of the most popular tennis players on the ATP Tour and some of that is simply because he's very likeable.
He plays with a lot of passion and joy, one that it's clearly visible in the big smile he has most of the time while he's on a tennis court. Besides that, Alcaraz is rather graceful, in victory and defeat, which can be somewhat lacking in these younger generations.
We've seen his fellow rising stars like Rune already being branded bad boys of tennis as well as criticized for various things, yet that's not the case most of the time with Alcaraz. Some have questioned him celebrating heavily while handing out bagels but that's relatively harmless.
He's also been called a very fair player, rarely doing something questionable on the court and it was visible in his match against Alex de Minaur in London. They battled in the Cinch Championships final, a final that Alcaraz ultimately won to lift his maiden grass title.
Alcaraz won a point after a fantastic rally though De Minaur fell at the end of it which caused Carlos to abandon celebrating after the point. The Spaniard does heavily celebrate after huge points or great rallies and he was about to after this one as well.
However, after noticing that de Minaur slipped and fell Alcaraz refrained from celebrating the point. The moment can be seen at the end of the rally highlight. In the slow-motion replay you can see Alcaraz going for his famous fist pump celebration after winning the point but quickly abandoning it after seeing De Minaur falling.
It happens toward the end of the video below. Barely noticeable but a very nice gesture from Alcaraz, especially in light of what happened in the Giorgi - Williams match in Birmingham a few days ago. Also after his win, Alcaraz stayed really humble, saying that he didn't come to London with a lot of confidence.
"Come here with not a lot of confidence, and, you know, see myself playing a high level is special for me. And obviously I see Wimbledon as the most beautiful tournament on the tour. It's a tournament that I really wanted to win someday."
0 Comments