Alcaraz: Hard-Court Hero In 2022

Who has the upper hand on hard courts in 2022?

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of hard court tournaments leading into the US Open identifies Carlos Alcaraz as the peak performer, winning a tour-leading 54.12 per cent of points played on the surface. The data set includes players who have competed in a minimum of five hard-court matches so far this year.

The leading five players in the category are:

2022 Hard Courts Percentage Points Won
1. Carlos Alcaraz = 54.12% (1583/2925)
2. Daniil Medvedev = 54.04% (2685/4969)
3. Rafael Nadal = 53.85% (2042/3792)
4. Novak Djokovic = 53.40% (204/382)
5. Alexander Zverev = 53.36% (1301/2438)

Alcaraz is 14-4 on hard courts in 2022, including winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami. Alcaraz impressively defeated three Top 10 players (No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 8 Casper Ruud, No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz) to take the title while only dropping one set for the entire tournament (to Miomir Kecmanovic)

That Masters 1000 victory came on the heels of reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, where he extended Rafael Nadal to three sets in the semi-finals. When you aggregate Alcaraz’s data from both of these events, you clearly see that his aggressive game style is what creates his competitive advantage.

2022 Indian Wells & Miami Combined (11 matches)

Rally Winners
• Alcaraz = 265
• Opponents = 121

This jaw-dropping stat shows how the Spanish teenager can take the racquet out of his opponent’s hands and dictate the flow of play from the back of the court. Alcaraz hit more than double (265-121) the number of winners than his opponents. The five most lopsided totals were:

• Alcaraz 21/Bautista Agut 1
• Alcaraz 18/Monfils 5
• Alcaraz 41/Kecmanovic 18
• Alcaraz 26/Tsitsipas 12
• Alcaraz 36/Nadal 18

What also stops you in your tracks is that Alcaraz also committed fewer rally unforced errors than his opponents.

Rally Unforced Errors
• Alcaraz = 218
• Opponents = 234

Alcaraz was always looking to strike more forehands over backhands from the back of the court.

Rally Forehands/Backhands — Alcaraz
• Forehands 58% (1391)
• Backhands 42% (1009)

Alcaraz’s explosive hard-court prowess will next be on show at the US Open. The Spaniard has recently surged to a career-high of No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and has a chance to take the No. 1 spot. If he does take over as No. 1, then he will be the youngest No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history.