Former Spanish Player Gives Reasons for Carlos Alcaraz’s Poor Form at the Sunshine Double
Carlos Alcaraz's poor results at the Sunshine Double have seen Jannik Sinner close the gap in the ATP rankings.
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Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/CARLOS ALCARAZ NEWS)
- Carlos Alcaraz experienced a dip in form during the Sunshine Double after a strong start to the 2026 season.
- Feliciano Lopez suggests Alcaraz's struggles may be linked to off-court issues and the monotony of the tour.
- Alcaraz is training for the Monte Carlo Masters, where he is the defending champion and has a strong clay-court winning rate.
Carlos Alcaraz began the 2026 season by winning 16 consecutive matches on tour. The Spaniard looked his best on the court as he kept beating any opponent that came in his way, but things totally changed during the Sunshine Double. Former Spanish player Feliciano Lopez has explained the reason behind Alcaraz’s recent struggle.
Alcaraz won the Australian Open, making him the youngest player to complete the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era. The 22-year-old continued with his high-flying form at the Qatar Open, winning the ATP 500 tournament. However, things turned bad at the Indian Wells Open when he shockingly lost to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.
Alcaraz came crashing back down to earth from a high-flying performance at the Miami Open, as Sebastian Korda got the better of him. Meanwhile, his arch-rival Jannik Sinner was excelling on court. He defeated Medvedev to win the Indian Wells without dropping a set. At the Miami Open, he made history by becoming the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to complete the Sunshine Double.
Alcaraz held over 3,500 points gap over Sinner before the Indian Wells; this week, the gap has shrunk to just 1,190 points. Should Alcaraz fail to win the Monte Carlo Masters and Sinner claim the title, he will be World No.2 in April, bringing his stay at the top of the ATP rankings to just nine consecutive months. Alcaraz revealed after Miami disappointment that he wants to disconnect from tennis.
Despite Sinner’s success at the Miami Open, Alcaraz has maintained his place in media headlines. Some analysts have explained that Alcaraz’s struggles during the Sunshine Double are likely due to something off the court. Feliciano Lopez revealed during an interview with Radio Nacional in Spain via Puntodebreak that he understands Alcaraz’s poor run of form:
Look, on the one hand, it can happen to any player. In the end, tennis is a routine, monotonous sport, where the same thing happens every week. You see the same people, go to the same places, play at the same clubs, stay in the same hotels… I understand that a tennis player, at certain times, for whatever reason —perhaps being away from home for a while, having a personal problem—might feel the way Carlos felt in Miami. I understand that.
Alcaraz had been spotted training on the clay court in his hometown in Murcia ahead of the Monte Carlo Masters. He’s the defending champion of the event, and he’s the favorite to win the tournament. The good thing is that Alcaraz has a winner rate of 82 percent on the clay court, 11 more than what Sinner has on the surface.
Feliciano Lopez believes Carlos Alcaraz has made tremendous progress in every aspect of his game
This is not the first time that Carlos Alcaraz has gone through a low phase in his career. The Spaniard went through a similar poor run of results at the Sunshine Double last year, losing in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells and then in the second round of the Miami Open to David Goffin. But he got better after those two tournaments, and that was noticeable throughout the year.
In 2024, he went through similar problems at the start of the year. In fact, he has to wait until March to win his first title. During the aforementioned interview, Feliciano Lopez pointed out that critics fail to understand that Alcaraz has grown over the years, even though there are still lapses here and there in his game:
He was already the best player in the world, battling with Sinner, one week you, the next me, but I think that in the last year and a half, his mental change has been incredible. Carlos is a much more stable player, mentally much more consistent, with practically no lapses during matches. He’s a player who, in the only area where there was a little more room for improvement… Improvement, that’s where Carlos has improved the most in the last year and a half.
Alcaraz won three of the four clay-court tournaments he featured in last season. In fact, he was the only player to reach the final of four consecutive tournaments last season. He has the opportunity to prove it this year, especially at the French Open, which he has won twice in his career.
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