Carlos Alcaraz can’t silence inner critic despite lifting his first title in Monte Carlo
Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down to defeat Lorenzo Musetti in Monte Carlo and take home his second title of the season.
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Carlos Alcaraz (via Instagram/ Carlos Alcaraz)
Carlos Alcaraz wasn’t happy about his performance at the recently concluded Monte-Carlo Masters. While the tournament concluded in his favor, Alcaraz thinks he didn’t play to his full potential. The 21-year-old dropped the first set in three of his matches (against Francisco Cerundolo, Arthur Fils, and Lorenzo Musetti).
Although despite dropping the set, he made a strong comeback to hand Cerundolo and Musetti bagels, he was on the verge of another knockout when he was locking horns with Fils. Prior to Monte Carlo, Alcaraz suffered a shocking opening-round exit at the Miami Open.
Since lifting the Rotterdam Open in February, Alcaraz, in his next three tournaments, was defeated in the quarterfinal, semifinal, and opening round. Alcaraz is in Barcelona to play his first ATP 500 on clay. Ahead of his first-round match against Ethan Quinn, the Spaniard made his feelings known on his performance in The Principality.
I don’t think I’m at my best. This year, I’ve played better matches than in Monte Carlo. Winning is one thing, playing well is another. I’ve already said that my tennis level wasn’t very high in Monte Carlo, but my mental level and how I handle adversity were. I think I’m having a good year. Maybe I played a little less well last month, but I think I’ve played at a good level in almost every tournament I’ve played.
Carlos Alcaraz said at the press conference
Alcaraz, who has now added his ninth clay-court title to his trophy cabinet, also admitted that he finds it difficult to quickly regain rhythm and confidence while playing on this surface. He will enter the Barcelona Open as the two-time champion, having lifted the title in 2022 and 2023.
He skipped the last edition due to an injury. The four-time Grand Slam champion will be locking horns with the American for the first time in his career. The match is scheduled on Tuesday (April 15).
Paul Annacone analyzes Carlos Alcaraz’s performance in the Monte Carlo Masters final
Lorenzo Musetti was struggling throughout the Monte Carlo Masters final against Carlos Alcaraz as he had injured his right leg. But despite his injury, he was successful in clinching the first set. Roger Federer‘s former coach Paul Annacone said an error-strewn performance was the reason behind Alcaraz’s defeat in the first set.
The thing that concerns me really is that the floor is not rising as much as we think it can. Today [on April 13] he did such a great job at the end of the match, because at the beginning, for his level, he played bad tennis and a lot of unforced errors. He overplayed.
Paul Annacone said on The Tennis Channel Live Podcast
It was Alcaraz’s first title in Monaco and he became the first Spanish man since Rafael Nadal to take home the title. Nadal, with a record 11 titles in the tournament, last lifted it in 2018.
Last year on the clay swing, the four-time Grand Slam champion captured his career’s first French Open title by overcoming Alexander Zverev in five sets. He also made it to the final of the Paris Olympics, but lost the gold medal to Novak Djokovic.
The win in Monte Carlo also helped him become World No.2 as Zverev suffered an unexpected exit in the opening round. The German, since losing the Australian Open final to World No.1 Jannik Sinner, has made early exits in the next six tournaments he played.
But Zverev still has a chance to reclaim his No.2 ranking if he ends up winning the BMW Open and Alcaraz suffers an early exit in Barcelona. Zverev beat Alexandre Muller in straight sets to set up the second-round clash with Daniel Altmaier.
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