Carlos Alcaraz had the best season of his career winning six titles including two Masters Titles, two ATP 500, one ATP 250, and the Wimbledon Open. He also finished the year as the World No.2.
But despite this form, he had a poor run towards the end of the season where he lost four out of the last six matches that he played. Following his win at the Wimbledon Open, he has seen a dip in his form and has not won any tournaments since then although he had a semifinal finish at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Former Spanish tennis player Feliciano Lopez feels the reason behind Alcaraz’s dip in form is that he plays every tournament at an ‘enormously demanding level’ as he has always aspired to be in the finals or win the tournament.
He also mentioned that Alcaraz cannot achieve great results if he plays in more diesel mode like Novak Djokovic.
“Furthermore, he plays with a lot of intensity, he needs to be fresh, have spark. He cannot achieve great results in a more diesel mode, like Djokovic, who sometimes start matches at a slow pace, until he finds his momentum and is already invincible.”
– Feliciano Lopez on Carlos Alcaraz
Former WTA player Andrea Petkovic feels that Carlos Alcaraz is at risk of having an injury-prone career
Andrea Petkovic feels that World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz who has dealt with many injuries in his short career so far has a worrisome future.
Carlos Alcaraz has won two Major Titles at the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon Open so far but has also missed out on playing a few other important tournaments due to injury.
He missed the 2022 ATP Finals due to an abdominal injury followed by this year’s Australian Open due to a leg injury. Though he had an injury-free run in 2023, Carlitos suffered a cramp at the semifinal of the French Open. He has had a comparatively poor run after the 2023 Wimbledon.
Andrea Petkovic and Serena Williams ex-coach Rennae Stubbs recently discussed early-career injuries in sports in a podcast. Petkovic mentioned that in general, a player is likely to suffer from recurring injuries if their physical conditioning is compromised early on. She said she is worried about 20-year-old Alcaraz and compared his injury-affected career with Rafael Nadal’s.
“I am worried about Alcaraz. Same with Rafa, Rafa had a bad injury early on, and he always had injuries. If you look at someone like Djokovic, Roger…they were never injured. I don’t think that if you are unlucky at the beginning of your career, while you’re still growing with a big injury, it tends to come bite you back in the a** ”
-Andrea Petkovic in the podcast
Carlos Alcaraz, at 13 years old, was already very clear about his ambitions
— Talking Tennis (@TalkingTennisTT) December 3, 2023
🎙️2016 interview with @calvonbauer
🗣️"I want to be top 10 in the world. I want to be like Rafa Nadal because he trains very hard, sacrifices himself & puts in a lot of effort"
pic.twitter.com/8mn1IYWJTM
