Carlos Alcaraz admits grass is ‘three or four times’ tougher than other surfaces after marathon Wimbledon battle

Carlos Alcaraz fought through arguably the most entertaining contest of the opening day at Wimbledon 2022 on Monday.

He dug deep to oust adept grass-courter Jan Lennard-Struff 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 after more than four hours on court. 

The length of such a match will take its toll, even on the body of a 19-year-old. 

Tennishead asked Alcaraz to compare playing such a long match on grass against say one on clay or hard courts. 

He answered: “It’s different, of course.

“Grass is tough for me because the movement is tough, more difficult than other surfaces.

“I would say to play four hours on grass is tougher than the other surfaces, even if there are not long rallies. 

“I’m going to compare long rally here is like three or four long rallies on another surface. 

“So for me it’s tougher to play a marathon match on grass.”

Two of Alcaraz’s three career matches at Wimbledon have now lasted more than four hours. 

At other Majors, he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas after more than four hours play at last year’s US Open and just lost out to Matteo Berrettini in a similar amount of time at the Australian Open this year. 

The mental fatigue of grass can also be a challenge, having to think more about movement rather than just trusting the body to cope, something Tennishead asked Alcaraz further about. 

He added: “Trying not to slip, [is hard] of course. 

“The movement, you have to be more focused on that than the other surfaces.”

The world number seven takes on Tallon Griekspoor of The Netherlands in the second round.

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