ATP Player Admits He was Completely Clueless When He Faced Carlos Alcaraz on Tour
Carlos Alcaraz won the most number of matches this season, 71, and eight tour-level titles.
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Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Carlos Alcaraz 4K)
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ATP player Mattia Bellucci has admitted that Carlos Alcaraz is the best player he has faced in the men’s circuit since turning professional in 2018. Alcaraz won 71 matches this year, picking up eight titles and the season as World No.1, the best record on tour this season, topping his arch-rival Jannik Sinner.
Alcaraz had a dominant season in the ATP Tour, winning two Grand Slams to take his major title tally to six. He only lost nine matches all year, losing once to Novak Djokovic, Jiri Lehecka, Jack Draper, David Goffin, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, and Cameron Norrie, while losing twice to his rival Sinner at the Wimbledon Championship and the ATP Finals.
Other players on tour, failed to provide such a challenge against Alcaraz, with the Spaniard winning most of his matches in straight sets. The 22-year-old won his last tour-level title at the Tokyo Open, where he defeated Fritz in the final despite having an injury scare in his opening round match against Sebastian Baez.
Nonetheless, Bellucci last met Alcaraz in the second round of the US Open in August. The World No.1 displayed excellent quality tennis, beating the Italian star 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. Bellucci’s dream of reaching the third round of the Grand Slam tournament was shattered in just an hour and 36 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Having played against several players, including his compatriot Sinner, he finds Alcaraz on a different level. He revealed during his interview with Spazio Tennis that he could never come close to the level of Alcaraz during their meeting at the US Open.
Carlos [Alcaraz] and Jannik [Sinner] are impressive on TV, but playing against them on court is much worse, There wasn’t a single aspect where I felt on par with Alcaraz. I didn’t know how to win points, how to stay in the game. Against other ‘big’ players, I felt closer tennis-wise, but against Alcaraz I thought ‘I don’t know what to do’. In those days, he was playing fantastic tennis.
Alcaraz is currently in the United States of America ahead of his exhibition matches. He will play at New Jersey against Frances Tiafoe before traveling to face Joao Fonseca at the Miami Invitational exhibition tournament in Florida. The 22-year-old will then face Sinner in an exhibition match in Seoul, South Korea, just eight days before the start of the Australian Open.
Mattia Bellucci praises Novak Djokovic for his level of demand during training sessions
Novak Djokovic is recognized as one of the greatest players to have ever graced the court. The former World No.1 has won 24 Grand Slams and this season reached the semi-finals of all the major tournaments. The Serbian legend won two tour-level titles this season, at the Geneva Open and Athens Open.
Mattia Bellucci has shared the court with some of the best players in the world, including Djokovic. During the aforementioned interview, the 24-year-old admitted that Djokovic demands a high level of precision from his team during training sessions:
Unlike other big names, when you’re on court with ‘Nole’ there’s a much higher level of demand. He demands a very high level of precision from himself and his team, and if things don’t go well, he gets annoyed. I tried to make the training useful for him, but the pressure was so much. In terms of emotion and intensity, it was a training session that made me better, stronger.
Bellucci defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev en route to the semi-finals of the Rotterdam Open, before losing to Australia’s Alex de Minaur. He reached a career-high ranking of World No.63, but has now fallen to No.74.
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