Why Carlos Alcaraz should stop playing to the crowd

“Maybe someones don’t like me, because maybe I’m too good,” said Carlos Alcaraz never.

He doesn’t need to, because no one in their right mind would deny the fact that he is being adored in the world of tennis for being really, really good. Carlos Alcaraz has risen through the ranks quicker than most would have expected. A little over a year ago, he won his first Grand Slam title and became the youngest man ever to sit in the pole position in the world rankings.

The Spaniard's ascent came at a time when tennis fans were searching for players to hold dear. The usual suspects like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were on the way out of the game for good.

Alcaraz's youth, talent, power, nationality, and smile perhaps reminded the fans of the young Federer and Nadal. With Novak Djokovic blocked from last year's US Open, Nadal hurt, and the Swiss maestro feeling the brunt of time, fans found a worthy recipient of their standing ovations in Carlos Alcaraz.

The affection grew manifold after he overcame Djokovic at Wimbledon in July this year. From ball boys to supermodels to Maria Sharapova, everyone wanted a closer look at Carlos Alcaraz.

Two months later, Alcaraz returned to Flushing Meadows, the place where his fairytale began.

Many pundits were sure of a repeat, and New York certainly wished for it. Alcaraz's thunderous forehand, lightning-fast feet and promising track record were fitting testimonials for all that the experts claimed and the spectators dreamed of.

If there was any player other than Coco Gauff whom the New Yorkers backed with all their heart, it was Carlos Alcaraz. And disappoint them, he did not. He showcased everything he could with his racquet in addition to his funky sneakers, six-pack abs and singing performance, all of which invoked ear-splitting roars from the stands.

The exchange seemed fair – you enjoy the spectacle, I will enjoy the attention. Every time Carlos Alcaraz realized he had pulled off something out of the ordinary, he offered an ear to the crowd or raised an arm suggesting, ‘LET ME HEAR IT!’. He did something similar at Wimbledon as well.

This form of communication is not alien to the universe of sports. In fact, ‘offering the ear’ is a go-to celebration for soccer players who constantly face flak from the stands.

For someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, with whose quote this article began, it has become a routine over the years. He has done it after scoring a goal, when ‘MESSI! MESSI!’ chants have still pierced his ears.

In tennis, it’s Djokovic. Though the crowd’s attitude toward the Serb has softened in recent times, his outings on the tennis courts around the globe during the early 2010s were no less than nightmares.

Djokovic's triumphant rise at a time when Federer and Nadal had already stolen all the hearts in tennis made him the third wheel, the outsider. So any time Djokovic tasted success, he too ‘offered the ear’ in order to taunt the crowd and suggest ‘YES, I AM WINNING, AGAINST YOUR WILL, GOT ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT?’

But why is Carlos Alcaraz doing it?

Carlos Alcaraz 'offers the ear' to the crowd.

Carlos Alcaraz, however, is not someone who has had to deal with such things, at least not yet. His relationship with stadium crowds is completely dissimilar to that of Djokovic’s early days, and is more reminiscent of what Lionel Messi has, or Roger Federer had.

A mention of Nadal here would not quite be fitting as the Spaniard hardly acknowledged the stands while playing; Nadal directed his fist pumps either at the ground or the sky. So why is his 20-year-old compatriot directing his celebrations at the crowd?

Perhaps the answer lies in what an announcer, who witnessed Carlos Alcaraz sending a thunderous backhand past Alexander Zverev to finish the first rally of the sixth game of the opening set during his US Open quarterfinal, said:

“I love how he throws his racquet in the air for acknowledgment.”

Every being yearns for ‘acknowledgment.’ Alcaraz has received it, and in so much abundance, that after downing Zverev he had to soak some of it with a Jude Bellingham celebration. Perhaps he shouldn’t have done that. Perhaps it created a void.

Alcaraz sought even more in the semifinal against Daniil Medvedev. He had 12 consecutive US Open wins on his back against Medvedev’s five. The crowd rallied behind him to fill that void.

Perhaps he prioritized the void more; he ‘offered the ear’ a couple of times during the match, drawing deafening clamor inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. With his actions, Alcaraz seemed to be suggesting ‘LET ME HEAR IT MORE’ and not just ‘LET ME HEAR IT’.

Unfortunately for the Spaniard, Medvedev was in a league of his own that night. Very few players could have beaten him then, with the crowd behind them or otherwise.

At present, Carlos Alcaraz is being touted to inherit a kingdom that once Federer ruled as a beloved king -- a king who took everyone’s breath away every time he stepped onto the court. The Swiss surely treasured it and must have wanted more, yet he always had a singular response to it — ‘Thank you’.

Messi, too, has reacted in a similar fashion to the appreciation he has received over the years.

In a way, if the aforementioned gentlemen could be categorized, Federer and Messi would be the guys who played with the crowd; Djokovic and Ronaldo the guys who played against the crowd; and Nadal the guy who played for himself. None of them played to the crowd. None of them ran up and down the court to gain more applause.

Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam titles, Nadal has 22, Federer has 20, and as of now, Carlos Alcaraz has two. If he yearns for anything more, it should be trophies, because the acknowledgment will multiply organically if the numbers do.