Carlos Alcaraz's forehand could be most unguardable move ever

Every once in a while, an athlete develops a move that their opponents have zero answers for. Case in point: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook, Michael Schumacher's acceleration in wet weather, Mike Tyson's leaping left hook, Anthony Pettis' showtime kick and of course, Michael Jordan's fadeaway.

A few decades later, we could be talking about Carlos Alcaraz's forehand in a similar light.

The Spaniard won a staggering 42 return points through just three sets during his Wimbledon final win over Novak Djokovic on Sunday, most of which came with his electric forehand. His return game (42/101 points won) was so productive that his subpar first-serve percentage (59) did not derail his service game as he punished Djokovic with an array of winners while covering 14.1 meters of distance per point. 

There were multiple times when Djokovic — the player with arguably the greatest defensive skill set in tennis history — just shook his head, a sentiment shared by John McEnroe on commentary. 

"There is no defense to that," McEnroe said on the ESPN airwaves about Alcaraz's forehand.

Alcaraz's mentor, Rafael Nadal, had a tremendous forehand in his prime years, too, but he couldn't produce winners at the drop of a hat like his younger pupil — especially on grass. That's not to undermine his greatness, but Nadal had to almost "suffer" for every point with long-winded rallies, which is precisely why his game was more suited to clay and hard courts.  

If anything, Alcaraz's reliance on the forehand mixed in with the drop shot reminds this writer of 2003-2010 Roger Federer, who decimated opponents on the grass with a similar skill set (minus the distance covered). While Alcaraz doesn't have Federer's traditional serve-and-volley skills, he has an underrated ability to beat opponents with a deft drop shot — he won 16/22 net points in Sunday's final.  

Federer himself compared Alcaraz's forehand technique to his in an interview last year, admitting that the young Spaniard had taken aspects of his, Nadal and Djokovic's game to create the super beast. 

The title of this article could be perceived as hyperbole, but not to Mats Wilander. The seven-time major champion declared in January that Alcaraz has "the best forehand of all time." 

The scary proposition for Alcaraz's opponents is that his forehand strokes will improve with each passing year. Initially, he was more about the inside-out and flat forehand winners (ala Nadal) until he mastered the slice and swing volley (ala Federer). Just imagine if he were to discover the power of the spin.