Three shots that defined Carlos Alcaraz's defeat to Alexander Zverev

Three swings defined Carlos Alcaraz’s 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-4 quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open for me.

The first came with Zverev serving at 2-3 in the second set. The German had come out of the gates firing, barely missing any first serves; he won six of the first seven games. But Alcaraz stabilized in the second, and now he had a break point to go up 4-3. The pro-Carlitos crowd, muted so far, was ready to let loose. Alcaraz controlled the next rally, hit with his customary heavy pace, moved forward to take a fairly short ball—and then tried to rocket a backhand for a no-margin winner.

The ball went into the net instead, and Zverev eventually held.

“It’s easy for me to say, but that’s a ball where you want to make [Zverev] hit a passing shot,” ESPN commentator John McEnroe said. Alcaraz, in other words, tried to win the point with one perfect shot, when a less-risky two-shot combination was available.

The second defining swing came in the next game, with Alcaraz serving at 3-3. At 40-30, he put Zverev on the run, began to come in to the net, but then thought better of it and retreated. As he was moving back, he tried to float a high-degree-of-difficulty forehand drop shot, but it died on his own side of the net.

Zverev, given a second chance, went on to break and serve out the second set.

This time it was John McEnroe’s brother, Patrick, who pointed out the over ambitiousness of Alcaraz’s attempt.

“Probably the wrong shot to try when you’re slightly out of position,” McEnroe said of Alcaraz’s flubbed dropper. And then he added. “But again, that’s part of his flair.”

Alcaraz’s free-swinging bravery makes crowds go wild when it works. But as he has said himself, that only makes him want to wow the audience more, even when a duller shot choice would be the better one.

The third and last crucial Alcaraz misstep came with Zverev serving at 3-4 in the four set.

Back in the third set, Zverev had tightened up just long enough to crack the door open for his opponent, and Alcaraz had come whirling through it. He took the third-set tiebreaker with a series of highlight-reel winners, one more spectacular than the next. Now, after coming back from 40-0 to deuce on Zverev’s serve, Alcaraz had a chance to push the match to a fifth set. Seeing that Zverev was struggling physically, Alcaraz finally dialed back the aggression and played more conservatively, and it worked. His father, Carlos, Sr., stood and pointed to his head, Stan Wawrinka-style—his son was playing it smart.

At deuce, Alcaraz made two gets that only he could make, at full stretch, virtually on all fours. The second one landed on the sideline and forced a weak reply from Zverev. The down the line was open for Alcaraz’s forehand; instead, he decided to try another delicate, difficult drop shot. Zverev tracked it down and stole the point back. Then he held for 4-4, broke Alcaraz, and served out the match.

“I think I had chances, you know, [at] 4-3 in the fourth set,” Alcaraz said. “I didn't take it.”

“It was tough to deal with the pressure that he puts me in every point with my serve. I have to improve. I have to still working on it, and let’s see in the future. But, you know, it’s a shame of my level today.”

Now that we’ve criticized Alcaraz’s shot selection, we should echo his praise for his opponent’s play. Zverev made a stratospheric 85 percent of his first serves, and hit with more proactive force from the baseline than normal. He also rose to the occasion in the fourth set. Zverev, who came in having played five more sets than Alcaraz in Melbourne, shook off exhaustion and the disappointment of blowing the third set. By the end, it was the German who pulled off a pair of brilliant passing shots to help close it out. Even at his best, Alcaraz may not have won this match.

Still, his shot choices helped doom him. If you come out misfiring early, the traditional Plan B is to take a little less risk, work the points, find a groove, and then start pulling the trigger again. So far, though, that hasn’t been the Alcaraz way.

Up until the last few months, it hasn’t needed to be. His style has taken him to No. 1, won him two Slams, and made him the new, grinning face of the game. When he beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, he seemed to have learned something from Novak about how to manage his way through the biggest matches, and the ups and downs that come with them. Since then, though, he hasn’t won a title.

Probably the wrong shot to try when you’re slightly out of position. But again, that’s part of his flair. Patrick McEnroe on Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, wasn’t with him in Melbourne. Did not having the former No. 1 barking advice into his ear hurt him? Not according to Alcaraz.

“It didn’t affect at all,” he said, pointing to his decisive wins earlier in the event. “I was playing great tennis [at this tournament] without him.”

As hard as it may be to believe, Alcaraz is still just 20. Exuberance, rashness and sometimes-irrational self-confidence come with the territory. The jaw-dropping shots, as well as the reckless choices, are “all part of his flair,” as the younger McEnroe says.

Alcaraz's fans love him in part because he can’t help himself, because he’s not scared to try anything, any time. As the years go on, though, I hope he does start to help himself a little more. I want shake my head at Alcaraz’s amazing winners, rather than his over-eager mistakes.