Carlos Alcaraz reveals he played ‘worst set’ of his career due to inability to calm his nerves during Indian Wells semifinal against Jack Draper
Despite being a four-time Major champion, Carlos Alcaraz was nervous throughout his Indian Wells semifinal match against Jack Draper.
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Jack Draper, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X)
Nerves got the better of Carlos Alcaraz during his Indian Wells semifinal clash with Jack Draper. The Spaniard played a match he will want to forget, for it took Draper 23 minutes to beat him 6-1 in the first set.
Alcaraz bounced back in an emphatic fashion, bagelling the Brit 6-0 in the second set. But he failed to capitalize on the momentum and eventually lost the match with a 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 scoreline.
Probably one of the worst sets that I have played in my whole career. This one hurts. I don’t want to lose any match, but I think this one was even more special to me. How much it’s gonna take to take the upset? Not too much. Not too much.
Carlos Alcaraz said at the press conference
Alcaraz later revealed the reason behind his mediocre performance was his inability to handle his nerves. He was “nervous during the whole day” and also didn’t practice well before the match. And during the during the warm-up, he was “missing a lot” and was mad at himself for the way he warmed up.
Because I consider myself a person who learns from the fails, from the losses. The last time that I lost here was the semi-final, I won Miami, so I think I will go for it. I will learn from that match, and I will make the most of myself in Miami.
Carlos Alcaraz added
The last time Alcaraz was beaten at Indian Wells was in 2022 when he suffered a three-set defeat to Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz then went on to win the Miami Open with a straight-set win over Casper Ruud.
Jack Draper gave himself pep talk which helped him win third set against Carlos Alcaraz
Even Jack Draper felt that Carlos Alcaraz was low on energy. The fact that Alcaraz has proved time and again that he’s not a player to write off when he’s losing, Draper knew that he needed to do something to not let him capitalize on his 6-0 win in the second set.
Then, yeah, obviously after that set went away, I went to the toilet and just, yeah, kind of looked at myself in the mirror and was like: ‘You need to really, you need to really get my stuff together’. There’s no time to be tired, there’s no time to be sort of thinking about being down here. There is lots of tennis still to be played.
Jack Draper said at the press conference
Draper, who is now 2-3 against the four-time Grand Slam champion, will be squaring off against Holger Rune in the final. The 23-year-old has lost the only match he played against the Dane in last year’s Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals.
Draper has also reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final and will enter the final to aim for his first title of the season. Rune too will fight for his first title of this year and his first since the 2023 BMW Open.
Carlos Alcaraz was chasing history at Indian Wells
Carlos Alcaraz was bidding to become the third ATP ace to win Indian Wells three times on the trot following Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, both of who have also claimed five titles in the California desert. In the previous two years, Alcaraz took home the title by beating Daniil Medvedev.
Had he won the title, he would have also become the first player born in 1991 (or later) to win an ATP even three times in a row. Alcaraz will now shift his focus to the Miami Open next. Last year in the tournament, he succumbed to a straight-set defeat to Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.
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