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Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime recently played each other at Indian Wells, with the Spaniard triumphing over his opponent in straight sets.
Alcaraz, who would go on to lift a second consecutive title at the tournament, outplayed Auger-Aliassime in most departments. His coach, however, is of the opinion there was one area that the Spaniard’s can learn a thing or two from watching the Canadian — the serve.
Speaking to Relevo in a recent interview, Antonio Martinez Cascales, who is a part of Alcaraz’s entourage and has tutored the Spaniard’s full-time coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, noted the similarity between the two players’ “short” and “very controlled” serves.
Cascales said while Auger-Aliassime’s serve, despite being very good, was in no way a model, it could easily serve as a mirror for Alcaraz to look at and improve upon:
"Felix Auger-Aliassime, they are two very similar serves, wanting to make a short preparation movement, very controlled," Antonio Martinez Cascales said. "It is not that it is a model, but it is a very similar to that of Felix who has always served very well."
Cascales added:
"A mirror or a reflection in which to see yourself to take a new step forward"
Cascales also noted that there were times when Alcaraz rushed too much on the serve, resulting in a low ball toss and poor result, saying they were working towards eliminating that:
"There are times when the movement accelerates Carlos Alcaraz too much and this leads him to throw the ball a little low, to not have enough pause. This is what he is insisted on a lot"
Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime crash out of Miami Open 2024
Carlos Alcaraz’s pursuit of the rare ‘Sunshine Double’ at the Miami Open came to an end in the quarterfinals, while Felix Auger-Aliassime had also faced yet another early exit at the tournament.
Alcaraz had blitzed the field in the earlier rounds, making it to the quarterfinals without dropping a single set. He beat the likes of Lorenzo Musetti, Gael Monfils, and Roberto Carbaslles before coming up against Grigor Dimitrov in the last-eight.
The Bulgarian, however, managed to turn the clock back with some vintage tennis to hand Alcaraz a comprehensive 6-2, 6-4 drubbing.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, had opened his campaign with a tight two-set win over Adam Walton before going down against Alexander Zverev in the next round.
