The Surprise Tactic That Helped Djokovic Beat Alcaraz In Epic Cincinnati Final

Think it’s foolish to serve and volley behind your second serve? Wrong. It’s foolish not to.

Novak Djokovic served and volleyed six times behind his second serve, winning every point on his way to a thrilling 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-6(4) victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the Western & Southern Open final on Sunday.

The back of the court was failing Djokovic early on as torrid baseline exchanges took their toll in the blistering Cincinnati heat. The Serbian suffered from heat exhaustion after only a handful of games and cleverly changed gears to attack the net with approach shots and serve and volley. Djokovic also served and volleyed twice behind his first serve, winning one of them. No other strategy he employed came close to winning 88 per cent (7/8) of the time. Alcaraz served and volleyed 10 times, winning eight, with all of them being behind a first serve.

Djokovic initially served and volleyed behind his second serve at 5-5, 0/15 in the opening set. It was a clever counter to Alcaraz’s ultra-deep return position. Djokovic hit a heavy kick second serve to Alcaraz’s backhand return and got well inside the service line for the volley, knocking off a backhand volley winner. In fact, all six of Djokovic’s serve and volley forays forward behind his second serve were to take advantage of Alcaraz standing extremely deep to return serve.

The advantage of Djokovic’s slow, heavy second serve is that it takes much longer than normal to reach the returner, enabling Djokovic excellent court position for his first volley well inside the baseline. The kick serve also jumps up high out of the opponent’s strike zone, giving them little power to use back at the server.

It was a masterful strategic manouevre that seemed counter-intuitive to everyone but Djokovic. It was straight out of the Patrick Rafter playbook.

Djokovic served and volleyed behind his second serve a few points later at 5-5, 15/40. This time, it was a slow, 94 mph slice second serve out wide in the Deuce court. Again, Alcaraz stood extremely deep to return and made contact with the ball around 13 feet behind the baseline. Djokovic hit his second volley for a winner as Alcaraz was left sitting on the court after losing balance trying to chase the ball down.

Djokovic’s gutsiest call to serve and volley behind his second serve occurred at 6/6 in the second set tie-break. He had just saved a match point on the previous point by approaching the net, and he desperately needed another quick point as heat exhaustion saw him doubled over as they changed sides.

Alcaraz stood in a traditional position closer to the baseline to return Djokovic’s first serve, but it was a fault. Alcaraz moved well back behind the baseline to return the second serve, which the Serbian duly noted. Djokovic hit a 95 mph slice second serve to Alcaraz’s forehand return, and two backhand volleys later had won the point. Djokovic’s body was failing him from the extreme heat, but his strategic mindset and warrior mentality carried him to the finish line.

In the opening set, Djokovic only won 40 per cent of his baseline points and appeared at the net just four times. In the second set, he still only won 42 per cent of baseline points but appeared at the net 14 times, winning 11. He was back in the match.

Alcaraz’s Achilles’ heel in the match was his return of serve. Djokovic only committed 18 return errors, while the Spaniard collected more than double that amount with a staggering 37 return errors, including 25 from the forehand wing. Alcaraz committed at least one return error in both tie-breaks and every one of Djokovic’s 18 service games except one. Alcaraz could not figure out where to stand to return, especially against Djokovic’s second serve. Sometimes, he was making contact nine feet inside the baseline, and sometimes 18 feet behind the baseline. He never locked onto a return location that looked comfortable.

Sneaking straight in behind stealthy second serves saved Djokovic’s legs and lungs from further punishment at the back of the court. It showed tremendous courage and conviction, but ultimately, it was an easy choice, with Alcaraz giving up so much ground to start the point.