When Carlos Alcaraz suffered an injury back in April while competing at his home event in Barcelona, no one could have envisaged how much it would shake up the Tour. As the days and weeks went by, it became clearer just how bad the injury was and how long it would keep him on the sidelines, unable to make any meaningful impact on the upcoming tournaments.
When it turned out that the former World No. 1 would miss the remainder of the clay season as well as the entirety of the grass season, the predictions were cast. Jannik Sinner looked nailed on to benefit the most from the absence of his only real rival. For the longest time, those predictions seemed spot-on, with the Italian shattering records and setting a few more en route to a barnstorming run that saw him win all events he entered during what remained of the clay season.
The Wrist That Paved The Way
All But One: Zverev Takes Over
All events, not until he shored up at the French capital, where an amazing sequence of events led to him suffering a second-round exit at the hands of Juan Manuel Cerundolo of all people. Then, a totally different, long-awaited story began to write itself. It was a script, so long in the wings that many believed it would probably never happen anyway–Alexander Zverev won a Grand Slam.
The German, who at that point had not even won a title all year and had not made any real inroads, was the biggest benefactor of a sequence of events not even he could have come up with. The general idea is that not having to face either Sinner or Alcaraz opened up the door for the former World No. 2, who has lost his last nine matches to the Italian and, despite having a better time of it against Alcaraz, has lost their last two Grand Slam meetings. Even with Sinner crashing out in dramatic style, it’s highly unlikely the German would have made it to the trophy without having to face Alcaraz. If that was the case, not to detract from the German’s obvious qualities, but it probably would have gone the way of Alcaraz.
Now, one Slam later, the German finds himself in the final of Wimbledon for only the first time in his long, illustrious career. Owing to Alcaraz’s forced hiatus from the sport, the German was seeded No. 2. A further stroke of luck kept Novak Djokovic, probably the only other player who could have stopped him, on the same side of the draw as Sinner. He did well to get past Fritz in his quarterfinal match, a player he has struggled to beat for a long time and one who is certainly very dangerous on grass, but even the American was hampered by a knee problem.
Ailing Wrists Keep Giving
His progression meant that while Sinner and Djokovic slugged it out for a chance at Sunday’s final, the imposing German was left to do battle with an impressive but nonetheless a rookie at this level, Arthur Fery. Despite the newcomer’s best efforts, Zverev proved too powerful, winning in straight sets. The German, to his credit, did play very aggressively to take away any hopes the young Brit may have been harboring.
However, on a different day, in an alternate universe, it would almost certainly have been a semifinal match against Alcaraz, which is a completely different proposition, especially on a surface on which the Spaniard is head and shoulders above him. Now he finds himself in a second consecutive Slam final. It seems the wrist that broke the season broke it kindly in the direction that favored the German.
His reward is another stab at Jannik Sinner, where he’d be hoping he can avoid the ignominy of ten straight defeats against a player who is supposed to be a rival. Alcaraz’s wrists might have paved the way for his greatest sporting achievement so far, but there’s only so much one wrist can offer, and if he is to win a second Slam, he’ll have to do it the absolute hard way. Concerns had been raised about Sinner’s level so far, but his display against Djokovic, who was himself playing really well, showed that the Italian is finding his A-game at the right moment.
Zverev Needs to Grab This Himself
It therefore means that Zverev, if he is to triumph here, will have to play the match of his life. And if somehow he does emerge victorious, then it’ll be quite the story. And while it is always difficult to truly gauge the impact certain situations have further down the line, victory at the All-England Club will feel like he has benefited the most from Alcaraz’s wrists bailing on him. Even if he does go on to lose against Sinner, it would represent a very encouraging couple of Slams for him.
And if somehow Alexander Zverev does pull off the unthinkable come Sunday, well, then he probably owes Alcaraz a firm handshake as a thank you, once that wrist fully heals. Time will tell.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images
