Carlos Alcaraz confesses he wanted to stop playing tennis “for several months” after hitting rock bottom in Miami

Carlos Alcaraz succumbed to a disappointing 7-5, 4-6, 3-6 loss against David Goffin at the Miami Open last month.

Carlos Alcaraz confesses he wanted to stop playing tennis “for several months” after hitting rock bottom in Miami

Carlos Alcaraz (via Instagram/Carlos Alcaraz)

Carlos Alcaraz found himself mentally strained after exiting the second round of the Miami Open, last month. The Spaniard had been the pole favorite to win the title after reaching the semi-finals of the Indian Wells, but that failed to materialize. Following his success at the Monte Carlo, he looked at what went through his mind in Miami.

Alcaraz committed 42 unforced errors against David Goffin in the second round of the Miami Open. The Spaniard’s disappointing performance saw him lose to the Dutch star 7-5, 4-6, 3-6 at the Hard Rock stadium. It was his first loss of the season to a player outside the Top 30 of the ATP rankings.

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After the loss, Alcaraz gave a brutal self-assessment of his performance. However, at Monte Carlo, the 21-year-old bounce back from rock bottom and played excellently en route to the final. In the championship match, he came from behind to beat Lorenzo Musetti and claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title of the season.

He is currently in Barcelona, competing in the ATP 500 event, which he has won twice in his career. During an interview, he reflected on what went through his mind after losing to Goffin in Miami. The World No.2 confessed that he wanted to stop playing tennis for several months but just keep training.

In the end, in those situations, you think about a lot of things, and when something that hurt you is so recent, you never really put it into perspective. A lot of thoughts come to mind: stop, stop for a week, skip a tournament, stop for several months, keep training, take a vacation, and then train for what’s next… A lot of thoughts came to mind, and one of the best things I did was take a few days off and allow myself to think clearly put things into perspective, and then make a decision from there.

Carlos Alcaraz said via MARCA

Alcaraz’s victory at the Monte Carlo Masters made it his 18th career title and his second of the season. He has proven that he can play better on clay when he has difficulties being at his best on the hard court.

Carlos Alcaraz focused on enjoying his game despite his chances of overtaking Jannik Sinner in No.1 position

Carlos Alcaraz overtook Alexander Zverev to become the World No.2 after his victory in Monte Carlo. The 21-year-old is now close to his arch-rival Jannik Sinner, who sits as No.1 in the ATP rankings. The Italian leads Alcaraz with just 2,210 points at the top of the ranking, which makes for a tough year-end No.1 race. However, Alcaraz is not concerned about that as he’s focused on enjoying himself on the court.

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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz (Image via Reuters)

I don’t know, I think we’re in a good fight. Jannik is ahead, but that’s what I said. I try to focus on what’s really important, and for me, it’s not the ranking. We’re trying to take the importance of winning off our shoulders. The most important thing is to enjoy it, and if I lose, to leave the court saying I’m on the right path, that I did well, and that I enjoyed it. From there, move forward.

Carlos Alcaraz said

Alcaraz can overtake Sinner even before the end of the year. If he does win the Barcelona Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and French Open, and Sinner doesn’t do well in Rome and Roland Garros, he has enough points to overtake the Italian.

Carlos Alcaraz continues his brilliant form in Barcelona

Carlos Alcaraz continued his brilliant clay form at the Barcelona Open after beating American qualifier Ethan Quinn 6-2, 7-6(6) to advance to the second round. The Spaniard was dragged into a second-set tussle by the American on Tuesday (April 15) at the ATP 500 event, but he showed resilience to prevail in fine fashion in an hour and 46 minutes.

Carlos Alcaraz (3)
Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/alcarchive)

Alcaraz is seeking to win the Barcelona Open for the third time in his career after winning it back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. Last year, he didn’t play due to injury, so has no points to defend at the tournament. Heading into the second round, he will face another qualifier, Laslo Djere, for a place in the next round.

The 21-year-old now has a mind-blowing 18-1 record on clay since last May and recently claimed his sixth ATP Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo. He’s the favorite to win the Barcelona Open despite opposition from the defending champion Casper Ruud.