Andre Agassi's "underrated" serve very similar to Carlos Alcaraz's, points out former coach
Andre Agassi's former coach Brad Gilbert believes that the American's serve was a very "underrated" part of his game and feels that Carlos Alcaraz has a similar serve routine as Agassi.
Reacting to a photo of Alcaraz's serve during his third-round match against Grigor Dimitrov at the 2023 Madrid Open, Gilbert stated that Agassi's kick serve and ability to put the ball wide on both wings of the quote made his serve very difficult to read.
🛰️
This pic is the lead on the #ATP website.
Stunning view of the Alcaraz lift-off. 🚀🔭🛰️👽
Incredible height as he explodes up into contact with massive leg drive.
Wow!👀
Also (FYI), here's my Carlitos forehand analysis.
Click ↓↓↓ & then "Featured"
bit.ly/2Megj9l https://t.co/CmVqo0p0Mv
He saw shades of the same in the Spaniard's serving motion, calling his kick a "mule kick."
"Most underrated part of AA @AndreAgassi game was his serv, especially the kick serve and ability to serve wide in both courts at his size, Escape from Alcaraz very similar with size and his kick is a Mule kick," Gilbert tweeted.
@BrainGameTennis most underrated part of AA @AndreAgassi game was his serv, especially the kick 🦵 serv and ability to serv wide in both courts at his size, Escape from Alcaraz very similar with size and his kick 🦵 is a Mule kick 🦵
The American further marveled at the hang time Carlos Alcaraz routinely gets on his serves, referring to it as a "thing of beauty."
"Crazy the height he gets there, maybe 18 inches off the ground. Hang time on serv simply off the charts thing of beauty," Brad Gilbert tweeted.
@BrainGameTennis Crazy the height he gets there, maybe 🤔 18 inches off the ground
@BrainGameTennis Hang time on serv simply off the charts thing of beauty 😎👍💪👊
The World No. 2 needed three sets to take down Emil Ruusuvuori in his Madrid opener. However, he needed only two to send Dimitrov packing, beating the Bulgarian 6-2, 7-5 to reach the fourth round of the Masters 1000 event.
Carlos Alcaraz sets up repeat of 2022 final against Alexander Zverev at Madrid Open
Following his victory over Grigor Dimitrov, Carlos Alcaraz will take on Alexander Zverev in the fourth round of the 2023 Madrid Open -- a repeat of last year's final.
The Spaniard defeated Zverev in straight sets in 2022 to win his maiden Masters 1000 title in Madrid. He also became the first man ever to beat both Rafael Nadal (quarterfinals) and Novak Djokovic (semifinals) in the same clay tournament.
Speaking to the press after his third-round victory, Alcaraz spoke about his Tuesday meeting. He remarked that he expected their clash this time around to be completely different from what happened last year.
"It's going to be totally different from last year's final. He beat Grenier, who had won two good matches. He already beat me in the training set. Everyone knows how Zverev plays. We're going to try to dominate and play a good game from the rest," Alcaraz said.
The winner of the clash will take on either Karen Khachanov or Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals in Madrid.