Carlos Alcaraz shows tennis is still not a land only of giants

For years we’ve been told the sport will be dominated by leviathans. But nimbleness and all-round skills are still valuable

HEIGHT MATTERS: Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, returns a shot to Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

When Daniil Medvedev took the court against Novak Djokovic on Sunday afternoon in New York, he was not only attempting to beat the Serb in the US Open final once again; he was also trying to replicate his feat of being tied for the tallest man to ever claim a grand slam title.

At 6ft 6in – the same listed height as former US Open champions Juan Martín del Potro (2009) and Marin Čilić (2014) – Medvedev, who his friend and countryman Andrey Rublev likens to an octopus, used his supremely long reach and extraordinary foot speed to shock Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. But his height didn’t make much difference in the final as Djokovic rolled to a straight-sets triumph.