Alcaraz admits he was “much weaker mentally than normal” against Rublev
The world No. 3 will have some days to recover from his painful defeat to the Russian in Madrid and prepare for the next tournaments.
Four months have passed since the start of 2024 and the ATP tennis calendar will be heading to the clay of the Italian Open and the French Open.
Carlos Alcaraz will be one of the main favorites to lift the trophy in the second Grand Slam tournament of the season, but the Spaniard has been dealing with some injuries that seem to have kept him away from his best level.
Alcaraz had to withdraw from Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to fitness issues and in Madrid, he had to play with some pain in his forearm, although that didn’t prevent him from competing and recording some convincing wins.
The 20-year-old star had to dig deep to beat Jan-Lennard Struff, who is in red-hot form after winning in Munich. The German was last year’s finalist at the Madrid Open and tried to avenge that loss against Carlitos, but the Murcia native was slightly better in the key points.
Against Rublev, Alcaraz couldn’t repeat that performance and although he won the first set, the Russian outmuscled him in the following two with his aggressive style of play and great accuracy on his shots.
The mental aspect of the game, Alcaraz’s main weakness
Alcaraz’s forehand wasn’t completely healed and the young talent was a little sick and tired when he took on the Russian, but he wanted to make no excuses and admitted that he wasn’t strong enough mentally.
“It has been a difficult day for me. The long and intense match against Struff took its toll on me because it had been a while since I had competed at that level, and today I woke up with soreness all over my body and my forearm. I also have a cold, but the main thing is that I have been much weaker mentally than normal. I became very complaining about not taking advantage of the opportunities”, he said.
Although he hasn’t overcome his forearm problems, Alcaraz may need to keep playing official games before traveling to Paris to feature at the French Open. That’s why he will participate in the Italian Open, the last big event before Roland Garros.
“(...) The point is that I’m going to go to Rome and work these days to be close to 100 percent or in a good way to play Rome, but I’m going to decide these days. But I think I’ll be okay to play Rome”, he added.
Assuming he gets rid of his injury issues and is at 100% again, Carlitos will need to be at his best mentally to prepare for a demanding tournament like the French Open, where he will have to win many points in long exchanges over five-set matches.
Moreover, after being so close to playing the final last year, he might feel some pressure to improve that performance and become a three-time major champion, a must-win feeling he experienced in the past and ended up affecting him.