Wimbledon, two stunning points: A tweener and a frantic recovery – Alcaraz, Sinner and the art of pulling off the ridiculous

On middle Sunday at Wimbledon 2024, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner came through their round of 16 matches to stay on course for a blockbuster semifinal meeting later this week. During the course of their wins, they each produced a moment of magic that got the tennis community buzzing.

What makes them stand out from the rest of the pack is their ability to consistently pull off ridiculous points that many can only dream of. These are not one-off exhibitions of outrageous skills, these are frequent displays of flair. And their abilities to produce these in all types of courts. Alcaraz is more flamboyant and scripts ‘wow’ moments with his shot-making while Sinner’s big weapon is his logic-defying court coverage. On Sunday at SW19, Sinner came up with a quintessential Alcaraz moment while Alcaraz gave his best impression of Sinner’s grit.

‘Unbelievable’

At set point in the 2nd set, Alcaraz managed to return a serve down the middle with a forehand block. Ugo Humbert must have then thought he had the point in the bag when his lefty inside-out forehand had Alcaraz on the run and down on his backside at the baseline. Humbert had a wide open chance to kill the point from the net but the Spaniard had already gotten up and started his sprint to the other flank to hit a backhand lob on the run. It wasn’t the greatest of lobs either, and Humbert had another chance to kill the point at the net. He tapped the ball close to the net but Alcaraz was on his bike again, rushing diagonally forward to reach the ball and force Humbert to play another shot. The volley sailed wide and Centre Court erupted. In the post-match chat, Alcaraz described that point as “unbelievable”.

“The last time I remember that I fell down and recovered and won the point at the end was against Sinner at the US Open. I remember that I fell down, recovered, and made a passing shot. That is the last time I remember that I got a point like this one,” Alcaraz said. “As I said on the court, that’s myself fighting for every ball. I think that I can reach every ball. It doesn’t matter the shot, the opponent hit, or the place that I’m on the court. I just think that I’m going to get it, I’m going to hit another good shot or a passing shot, believing that I’m going to get the point.”

Carlos Alcaraz, you are ridiculous 🤯#Wimbledon | @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/UCuhaZAaw8

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2024

‘Lucky’

At Halle, Sinner played two points that roughly fit the description of Alcaraz’s never-say-die rally on Sunday. But in his round of 16 tie against Ben Shelton, it was not the hustle in a long rally that got everyone talking… it was a stunning tweener. At 4-5 in the third set, Shelton picked up a serve from the Italian out wide and hit a superb forehand crosscourt return. It came at Sinner awkwardly, and he instinctively spread his legs apart and hit the ball through them. A reaction, shot, basically. Most times tweeners look fancy but are easily returned, but Sinner hit this so well that it almost turned into a perfect drop shot that had Shelton scrambling forward. The American just about got to it but Sinner was now waiting to nail the perfect crosscourt forehand pass past his opponent.

Jannik Sinner’s latest magic trick 🪄🤩#Wimbledon | @janniksin pic.twitter.com/eHGuCTd7RE

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2024

In a 27-second clip posted by Wimbledon, Sinner tried to explain the shot and basically ended up uttering just about 3-4 words. In the press conference, though, he was a bit more forthcoming. When asked if we will see more of this from him in the future, he shrugged and said, “I don’t think so. I’m not the kind of player to have a lot of trick shots. But in this case, it was still an easier shot, because I didn’t have space to go right and left. It was a lucky shot.” Sometimes, the best make their own luck.

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