Boris Becker’s ‘depression’ warning to Carlos Alcaraz’s team and family after Spaniard admitted he considered taking long break
Carlos Alcaraz, who has often criticized the tennis schedule, wants to find joy while playing and puts happiness ahead of accomplishments.
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Carlos Alcaraz, Boris Becker (Image via X/Jose Moron, SPORTbible)
Boris Becker is worried about Carlos Alcaraz‘s mental health as he thinks the youngster has been dealing with a tremendous amount of pressure. Alcaraz himself admitted that when things didn’t go his way before the clay swing this year, he considered taking a long break.
He opened up about this before the clay swing. At the start of the season, after losing the Australian Open quarterfinal to Novak Djokovic and later lifting the Rotterdam Open, the 21-year-old succumbed to defeats in the Qatar Open, Indian Wells, and the Miami Open. He entered the clay swing without a Sunshine Double title under his belt for the first time since 2021.
Becker claimed Alcaraz is finding it tough to cope with the expectations and the pressure. He urged the people around the youngster to take more care of him so that he doesn’t plunge into mental health problems.
Someone like that almost reached the point of depression. So those around him have to ask themselves: haven’t we done something wrong? Demanding too much of such a young player? He almost has to act like a machine…at 21 it’s hard to say no. We have to protect Carlos from himself.
Boris Becker said on Becker Petkovic podcast
In his new Netflix documentary Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, Alcaraz also narrated the effect of his defeat to Djokovic in the 2023 French Open semifinal. Alcaraz missed the tournaments Down Under due to an injury and since making his comeback at the Argentina Open, he played non-stop tennis until the French Open (though he withdrew from the Mexican Open).
After the four-time Grand Slam champion faced a four-set defeat to Djokovic at Roland Garros, he went to Ibiza against the wishes of his team as the latter rather wanted him to prepare for the grass swing. Alcaraz, knowing that he might not get free time, partied for three days on the Mediterranean island. After recharging his batteries, he comeback only to lift the Queen’s Club Championships and deny Djokovic the historic Calendar Grand Slam by beating him in the Wimbledon final.
Carlos Alcaraz reveals what he told himself before beating Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz defended his Wimbledon crown by once again beating Novak Djokovic. The 2023 Wimbledon final was a five-set affair, but in 2024, Alcaraz didn’t let Djokovic win more than 10 games throughout the match.
Alcaraz was on the verge of winning, as he was 5-4 (40-0) in the third set, but he squandered the match points and the set went into the tie-breaker. He shared what went in his head minutes before he became a two-time Wimbledon champion.
You were already seeing yourself with the Wimbledon trophy, and then no. With Djokovic in front of me, I knew that if I had lost that set, it would be a major setback, because Djokovic would seriously step up his game. At that moment, I told myself ‘I have to go after him’.
Carlos Alcaraz said
It was Djokovic’s first Grand Slam final since the 2023 US Open. Later Djokovic took revenge on him by beating him in the Paris Olympics final. The 37-year-old holds a 5-3 head-to-head record over the Murcia native.
He was projected to meet Alcaraz in the semifinal of the ongoing Madrid Open. But Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament due to a hamstring injury he suffered during the Barcelona Open final against Holger Rune, while Djokovic, who played the tournament in the Spanish capital for the first time in three years, got knocked out of the event after a straight-set defeat to Matteo Arnaldi in the second round.
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