The Picks in Madrid: Friday, May 4

Carlos Alcaraz
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Carlos Alcaraz over Borna Coric
On Friday, the Spaniard will be 20-years-old and he is in the semis again. Alcaraz is on top of the ball, crushing his strong forehand and his backhand, which can be exact, or fling it with some crazy, good spin. He has never played against Coric, and he knows that the rallies will be super long. But both of them will do it, trying to table in some cosmic shots. As Alcaraz said, he is just fine to hurl in a number of dropshots, and with a huge of winners, right over the net.

“This is something that I did a lot when I was young. I feel really comfortable on that shot,” he said.” Yeah, is a really good weapon for me. Honestly, I just feel it, the dropshot. Alcaraz did win the 2022 US Open, but that is only one Slam, yet. However, he really does believe he will continue to get better, and win, a lot. As he said: “I want to be part of the, you know, the best tennis players in history and I will work for it.”

Back in 2018, Coric took down Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, among others. He was so terrific, grinding all the time, and he was so consistent. But he never made it into the top 10, partly because he could be somewhat odd, on the court, and also, he needed to take over the net, more frequently. “Carlos is an impressive player in an incredible form. He is the favorite against me, but I will go out and have fun on the court,” Boris said. Five years later, he is going for it, and if he wants to out-hit against Alcaraz, he must have to take off the gloves off. He might, but Alcaraz will pound him and knock him out in two, tough, sets.
 
Jan-Lennard Struff over Aslan Karatsev
To see these two in the semis at the ATP 1000s rarely happens. The combination of the rankings are 176. That is so rare in the ATP 1000s, where so few people would think that the players will win in a bunchs of matches. Usually, deep at the tournaments, the top 30 men will have a legitimate chance to go very profound with the young players, good players, but this time, the long veterans are here now.

Struff stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas, and it looked like he was going to lose quickly, but he came up huge, especially with his first serve, and his hefty forehand. Two weeks ago, they played each other in a qualifying, and Karatsev chopped him. Now, it will be very close again, this time on the fast clay courts.

“Aslan is playing amazing this week. I didn’t play the best tennis in that match, but he made me play not good I feel like,” Struff said. “I think we need to analyze it now, focus on the match and I hope I can do better.”
He will have to as Karatsev is finally rising, and he must be breathtaking.
“I started the year inside the top 100, then I dropped and lost some matches. You have to keep going and believe,” Karatsev said. “From the qualifying, match by match, it has got harder, so mentally you have to be there more. Because your opponent doesn’t give you any free points so you have to be there yourself.”

It will be maybe three hours, with some long points, and in the third set, Struff will hit a few winners into the corner. He will win it , when he is almost exhausted, but he will be happy.

Matt’s yesterday picks

Correct: Iga Swiatek over Veronika Kudermetova
Correct: Aryna Sabalenka over Maria Sakkari
Stefanos Tsitsipas over Jan-Lennard Struff
Zhizhen Zhang over Aslan Karatsev

Matt’s picks from Madrid

7 out of 12, 58.3% correct

TennisReporters.net 2021 year-end review: top 20-16, the men

Pablo Carreno Busta

20. Pablo Carreno Busta
The Spaniard had a decent year, but not fantastic. He won the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, upsetting Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic. That might have been the best stretch of his career. Not only is he very consistent, but he can mix it up and smash the ball. However, he absolutely loves clay, and he can scramble on the dirt. Outside of that, though, the 30-year-old plays a tremendous amount, which means he will look spotty. Next year, perhaps he can jump on it, early, and grab the points.

19. Roberto Bautista Agut
Another Spaniard had a notably good year, grinding down his opponents. He can move all around the court, hitting well from both sides. However, while the veteran is solid with nine titles, he cannot upset a lot of people in the top 10. He has to get even faster and hit with more aggression. In 2022, he can win ATP 1000, but I doubt that.

18. Aslan Karatsev
Another veteran, the Russian had a shockingly successful year. He won Dubai by upsetting Andrey Rublev in the final. Before that, at the Australian Open, he reached the semis, knocking off Felix Auger-Aliassime and Grigor Dimitrov before he went down against Djokovic. He can crush the ball, and he can be fierce whenever he hads the opportunity. He started the year when he was ranked No. 114 and now he skyrocked up the chart. Like others, he wants to punch into the top-10 in 2022. He could, if he can run faster.

17. Cristian Garin
The 25-year-old from Chile had a good year, when he finally rose up. Like some other players, he loves clay, winning five tournaments in three years. He is fast and more intelligent now. Over the past couple years, he began to believe in his strokes. However, he still has a lot of work to do, because the top players are simply better than he is. If he wants to go even higher, than he will have to hit the ball even harder and with his serve. He just has to ambush his opponents much more often.

16. Roger Federer
The famous Swiss has rarely played this year. He is still recovering from knee surgery. He is 40-year-old, and the 20-tim Grand Slam winner loves to add more game but his top goal will be just to get back on court. Of course, the injury and age has slowed his incredible foot speed. He is without a doubt one of the best competitors over the past 20 years, perhaps the best of all time, excluding Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic. His variety is unconscious, with his forehand, his great eyes when he is returning, and at the net. Next year, he will come back, at some point, maybe in February or March, and then, if he is 100 percent, then he will win at least one tournament. But to win another Grand Slam? That will be surprising, except in Wimbledon, when he will have a small opportunity. If he does, the entire world will cheer as loud as they can.