How Big Does Alcaraz Hit? And are Backhands About As Fast as Forehands Now?

[jimlosaltos]

NYT's had some stats on his average speed: "Hawkeye, Alcaraz's average forehand speed was 78 miles per hour: 3 miles per hour faster than the U.S. Open men’s average this year. His backhand speed was 75 miles per hour: five miles per hour faster than the average." In other words, Alcaraz's backhand equalled the average forehand speed for the US Open.

So, I did some digging. Again, InfoSys is sole source for this kind of data, at least that I can find. Alcaraz only played one match with such stats, which was at the French, and even in such limited data I found a 126 MPH forehand and a 122 MPH backhand.

But here's the other thing. The premise is that backhands are slower than forehand, even for people with good ones. And that two handers are slower than one handers Yet with Zverev and now Alcaraz, we're seeing backhands at forehand speeds.

Caption: Let's be clear THIS stat in the image is from Roland Garros, because the US Open IBM system doesn't give fans access to this kind of granular data.

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[stotty]

That's really interesting. I love the Alacaraz (straight arm) forehand, it's a bazooka. But some of his backhands down the line against Tsitsipas seemed incredibly hard. The average speeds are interesting but when you see the top speeds of some the younger players shots it blows your mind. I couldn't hit the ball that hard even if I didn't have to keep in the stadium!

[jimlosaltos]

That's really interesting. I love the Alacaraz (straight arm) forehand, it's a bazooka. But some of his backhands down the line against Tsitsipas seemed incredibly hard. The average speeds are interesting but when you see the top speeds of some the younger players shots it blows your mind. I couldn't hit the ball that hard even if I didn't have to keep in the stadium!

Well, some of Tsitsipas's and Alcaraz's forehands DON"T stay in the stadium <g>.

[arturohernandez]

Well, some of Tsitsipas's and Alcaraz's forehands DON"T stay in the stadium <g>.

He seems to rip it to shreds. Very similar to the Andreescu and Sakkari. I wonder though if mixing it up would throw these players off. I saw Ash Barty slice Sakkari down to size two years ago. Nadal tried against Djokovic a few years ago.

Is the answer to speed and spin, a reverse spin, that is, a slice?