Medvedev reveals why Alcaraz is struggling on the court
The Russian talked about Alcaraz’s recent crisis after defeating his fellow countryman Andrey Rublev in the ATP Finals.
Carlos Alcaraz has become a worldwide sports icon and a tennis superstar. He had his breakthrough moment in the ATP tour in 2022 and since then he has lifted 12 titles, including two majors.
The Murcia native has been praised by several former and current players and pundits and his talent has attracted tennis fans from all over the world.
After reaching the French Open semifinals and becoming the Wimbledon champion this year, he was regarded as the No. 1 favorite to retain his title in the US Open.
However, the 20-year-old player didn’t manage to make it to the final in New York after being eliminated by Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, and since then, Carlitos hasn’t looked the same anymore.
Medvedev reveals what’s happening to Alcaraz
After a well-deserved break, Alcaraz came back to the courts to play in the last tournaments of the year with the mission of taking back the world No. 1 spot from Novak Djokovic.
Things didn’t go as planned, as he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai and was defeated in the first round of Shanghai by Roman Safiulin.
Alcaraz suffered a third consecutive defeat after losing to Alexander Zverev in the ATP Finals, which hadn’t happened to him since December 2022, losing to Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, and Casper Ruud.
The Russian Daniil Medvedev, who won his first-round robin game against Rublev in Turin, was asked about Alcaraz’s issues on the court, and he believes that the Spaniard feels more vulnerable now.
“If you would ask me two or three months ago, for sure (I would be surprised). Now? You know, tennis is a very, very tricky sport. And at this moment, for whatever reason, we feel that Carlos plays just a little bit slower. He does not have the same confidence he had throughout the whole year”, he said.
“This can happen to everyone. This even happened to Novak when he was younger. The question is, how fast is he going to recover? Is it going to be in this tournament or next year?”, Medvedev added.
Alcaraz will now face Rublev in the Red Group in a do-or-die match for him. He is looking to become the youngest ATP Finals champion since Pete Sampras in 1991.