‘Wow, unbelievable!’

‘Wow, unbelievable!’ – Alcaraz stuns fans with surprise lob winner

The fans inside Rod Laver Arena knew right from the outset that the Spaniard was at his electric best as he flashed a rasping backhand winner down the line to win the opening point of the match on poor Shang’s serve.

He certainly did not ease off in the slightest as he pounded several clean winners, before he produced the best shot at 1-1 and 15-30 on his opponent’s serve early in the first set as he stamped his authority on proceedings in a big way.

Shang could hardly have done any more as he fired down a perfectly-strong first serve that forced his opponent wide on his backhand side, then slammed a superb volley cross-court to have him back at full stretch once more.

But Alcaraz produced the ultimate response – and a surprising one at that. With both flanks to aim for with an expected and regular winner, he instead decided to take on the much lower-percentage lob.

With a flick of the wrists, he sent a gorgeous lob sailing over Shang’s head and right into the back of the court for a sublime showboat that delighted his supporters.

As Shang frantically back-pedalled to no avail, it was very clear that he was not expecting the shot at all.

Eurosport commentators Lee Goodall and Lucie Ahl were understandably taken aback by the moment of brilliance.

“Oh, hello! Life with Carlos Alcaraz!” exclaimed Goodall. “It’s a noisy crowd!”

Ahl added: “Wow, unbelievable! I mean, A) the surprise, and B) the awareness of what shot to play.

“Shang had no clue that was going up over the top of him.”

‘We are changing the king’ – Corretja says Spain are ‘blessed’ to have Alcaraz

Alcaraz is eyeing a maiden Australian Open crown this fortnight with two Grand Slams already to his name at the US Open and Wimbledon.

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