Carlos Alcaraz: "Didn't take it well at first"
Carlos Alcaraz suffered the first two final defeats of his young career within two weeks in Hamburg and Umag. A formative experience.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 08, 2022, 07:52 am
Yes, the Italians are making life difficult for Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 season so far. First Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open, then Jannik Sinner in Wimbledon and now Lorenzo Musetti (Hamburg) and again Jannik Sinner (Umag): Alcaraz lost four important players in the 2022 calendar year to players from Italy. And for a few days now, the latter have also been responsible for the young Spaniard's first two defeats in the finals.
Based on his previous experiences in Italy, the Spaniard will not stay completely away from the country in the future, but Alcaraz was not happy about the Italian curse that was starting: "The Italians have caused disappointments a few times lately. First Berrettini, then Musetti and twice Sinner. They are all very strong players with completely different playing characteristics. They really made my life difficult," the 19-year-old was quoted as saying by Ubitennis.
Sinner surprises Alcaraz
What surprised him the most was Jannik Sinner, who, especially in Umag, opted for an extremely aggressive approach: "Jannik surprised me: the way he stands on the pitch and the level of aggressiveness he shows with every rally We fight each other on the pitch, but we're all friends off the pitch," said Alcaraz.
At first, however, the experience of a lost endgame triggered negative emotions in Alcaraz, as he reveals: "I admit that I didn't take it well at first. Maybe I experienced it more dramatically than I should have," said the Spaniards. "As time went on and I repeated the same experience a week later, I realized that sometimes losing is good for you because it teaches you how to react. You learn to manage your feelings better."
Alcaraz not picky
Now Alcaraz already has his eyes on the future - and thus on North America, where the Iberian will be number two in the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal from Monday: "The goal is to play at the highest possible level and to collect as many points as possible. And then there's the US Open: In New York I want to do what I haven't been able to do in the other Slams, which is to get past the quarterfinals."
In general, the 19-year-old is convinced that he can be expected at the last major event of the year: "I'm pretty close because I've reached the quarterfinals. So far I've been missing something. Maybe a little experience in 3 of 5 sets, but I'm not far from it," said Alcaraz, who then showed himself quite combative: "I have no preference for which Grand Slam I win first. I'm not picky when it comes to Slam titles!"