Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz gestures as he leaves the court docket after shedding the US Open tennis match males’s singles semi-finals match in opposition to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Heart in New York Metropolis, on September 8, 2023. (Picture by kena betancur / AFP)
When Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon in July it appeared the Spaniard’s stratospheric profession trajectory was limitless and he would take a stranglehold on males’s tennis.
Just a few months later, nonetheless, 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has re-asserted his authority and Alcaraz is experiencing the primary droop of his profession.
The 20-year-old bemoaned the quick enjoying circumstances in Turin after a shock loss to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in his opening match on the ATP Finals on Monday.
Daniil Medvedev, whose defeat of Alcaraz within the U.S. Open semi-final uncovered some cracks within the Spaniard’s recreation, says {that a} dip was to be anticipated sooner or later.
“When you would ask me two or three months in the past, for certain (I’d be stunned),” the Russian instructed reporters after his opening victory in opposition to compatriot Andrey Rublev.
“Now? , tennis is a really, very difficult sport. And at this second, for no matter cause, we really feel that Carlos performs just a bit bit slower. He doesn’t have the identical confidence he had all through the entire yr.
“This could occur to everybody. This even occurred to Novak when he was youthful. The query is, how briskly is he going to get well? Is it going to be on this match or subsequent yr?”
Alcaraz will face Rublev in Pink Group on Wednesday when defeat might finish his hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
He’s seeking to turn into the youngest ATP Finals champion since Pete Sampras in 1991.
Whereas Alcaraz’s current defeats have raised eyebrows, fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja, an analyst for Eurosport, says these studying an excessive amount of in to his type are mistaken.
“I feel the summer time, it was too demanding for him and it was troublesome for him to take care of all of the expectations and all his motivation perhaps to complete primary understanding it was a excessive expectation,” he stated.
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“However nothing is incorrect with Carlitos. Carlitos is nice.”
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