Carlos Alcaraz woke up, rolled over and checked his phone. I received a message from Novak Djokovic.
“Okay, pay for your serve,” Djokovic texted him.
The former world No. 1 wondered if the current world’s best player had copied his serve and joked that he now wants royalties.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates during his match against Tommy Paul.credit: eddie jim
At the end of last season, Alcaraz began tweaking his serve from his bat, or racquet, rather than at the direction of a coach.
He changed his setup, hand position, swing, and unknowingly found himself becoming Djokovic’s serving mini-me.
He may not have noticed the new similarities to Djokovic, but Djokovic did — and he wanted to make the cut.
After defeating American Tommy Paul in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday, Alcaraz was asked on court if he had already paid Djokovic for his serve.
“I signed a contract over there, but I haven’t met him yet,” Alcaraz said.
“It was funny because I didn’t know it looked like Novak’s serve, but then I woke up and got a message from Novak saying, ‘Okay, you have to pay me for the serve.'”
He hopes the difference in serve will be the difference in this elusive Grand Slam. Alcaraz has reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne three years in a row, but this is the one Grand Slam title he has yet to win.
Tommy Paul.credit: eddie jim
Depending on the outcome of Sunday night’s match between Alex de Minaur and Alexander Bublik, Alcaraz could face the local favorite in the quarterfinals.
Against the impressive Paul, Alcaraz was authoritative at key moments, but Paul fought hard and broke Alcaraz in his first service game, sending the first set to a tiebreak.
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“He started off pretty strong in the first game of my service. I thought I played a good game, but I lost,” Alcaraz said.
It was the start of a marathon first set that lasted 72 minutes, including a 14-minute hold-up to play during the tiebreak due to a medical emergency in the stands.
Alcaraz always had time. At one critical point, he sat by the net under the skee-ball. He took his hands off the racket, wiped his palms on his shorts, blew on his fingers to dry them, and grabbed the racket again, still having time to wait for the ball to land and hit.
He also smiled at the sweaty work of the midfielders. Not many players can earn points by taking their hands off the racket.
But hey, even though he is indebted to his predecessor, he is No. 1 in the world.