Drop by drop: Carlos Alcaraz leads shift back to the most deft shot in tennis

‘It’s better to do a not great drop shot in a great moment than a pretty good drop shot in not a good moment. You have to find the right balance,’ says Carlos Alcaraz. Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

A little more than two years ago, Daniil Medvedev was working his way through the early rounds of the Miami Open when he noticed a distinct shift in his opponents’ tactics. A few days earlier, he had been convincingly beaten in the Indian Wells final by Carlos Alcaraz, who dismantled him with a relentless stream of drop shots. Suddenly, everyone was hitting drop shots against him.

“A lot of guys maybe saw the final, so they started to do only drop shots against me,” says Medvedev, smiling widely. “It’s not the same. It’s like: ‘OK, continue doing it. I’m there.’ Against [Alcaraz], I’m not there.”