Gilles Simon urges critics to lower expectations from Carlos Alcaraz after a disappointing hard court season

Carlos Alcaraz had a disappointing opening round exit at the Miami Open this year, against David Goffin.

Gilles Simon urges critics to lower expectations from Carlos Alcaraz after a disappointing hard court season

Gilles Simon (image via ATP), Carlos Alcaraz (image via Miami Open)

Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon has weighed in on the “unfair” criticism that Carlos Alcaraz has been receiving. Simon was speaking in his role as an ambassador and team captain for the 2025 Roland-Garros eSeries by Renault. The Frenchman who formerly coached Daniil Medvedev urged people to look at the “big picture” regarding Alcaraz’s results.

Despite winning the Rotterdam Open title earlier in February this year, Alcaraz has struggled quite a bit in the ensuing tournaments. He lost in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open to Jiri Lehecka in three sets. At the Indian Wells Open, he was denied the chance of a three-peat by eventual champion Jack Draper who defeated him in the semifinals. The only two other players to have accomplished a three-peat at the Indian Wells are Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

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Every time someone like him is losing, we make it a big deal, as he’s supposed to win everything. I don’t believe he’s this kind of person. He is a player where we know what he has in the racket, we know what he is able to do.

Gilles Simon via Tennis365

His most surprising defeat this season came at the Miami Open, where he lost in the opening round to David Goffin. Prior to his Rotterdam campaign, he also faced defeat at the Australian Open quarterfinals to Djokovic. Alcaraz is now gearing up for the clay season, a surface where he is expected to fare better as 8 of his 17 titles have come on this surface.

The problem is with the media, we are always panicking when someone is winning, they’re going to win everything for the next five years. No, it always changed, and suddenly it changed like this, and no one sees it coming – because they are not looking at the big picture. And the big picture is Carlos Alcaraz is a very special player, he has already achieved amazing things, and he will achieve amazing things again

Gilles Simon added

Beyond his performance in the last few matches, the World No. 2 also receives much flak for other issues like his decision to play a lot of exhibition games, his decision to party or play padel. Alcaraz recently played an exhibition match in Puerto Rico prior to his Sunshine swing run.

By the age of 21, Carlos Alcaraz has already won four Grand Slams

Carlos Alcaraz has had phenomenal success on the ATP tour at a young age. In March 2022, Alcaraz won his first Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open at the age of 18, followed by his second at the Madrid Open. Alcaraz won his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open, becoming the youngest man to top the singles rankings.

Carlos Alcaraz Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz (image via Wimbeldon)

He won four Slams, and it’s crazy at his age. People are tough. It’s unbelievable what he has achieved already, and he will achieve much more than he did.

Gilles Simon continued

In 2023, Alcaraz claimed his second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, defeating four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the finals. In 2024, Alcaraz won his third and fourth Grand Slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively, followed by an Olympic silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

Gilles Simon will captain a team in the 2025 Roland Garros eSeries

Much like Daniil Medvedev who is known to be very active in gaming, his former coach Gilles Simon is also pretty involved in this field. Simon will help lead the 2025 Roland Garros eSeries by Renault. It is scheduled to take place in the Roland-Garros Tenniseum auditorium just one day before main draw action begins in Paris.

Launched in 2018, the eSeries is the world’s first-ever tennis gaming tournament. It remains at the forefront of tennis’ presence in the realm of Esports.

Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (image via ATP)

Simon’s involvement in the gaming event began as a commentator in the 2023 edition of the event, but, as an avid gamer himself, he decided to enter the competition in 2024. Now, under a revamped format, he will be one of two captains in a team competition format, with a currently unnamed Grand Slam champion spearheading the rival team.

Tennis is far from the only sport embracing the growing presence of Esports in recent years. It was confirmed in February this year that the first Olympic Esports Games will take place in 2027 in Saudi Arabia, while the Commonwealth Games held an Esports event alongside the main games back in 2022 in Birmingham. Formula 1 launched its eSeries back in 2017, with the sport’s leading teams hiring specialist racers to compete, while football has also played a prominent role in Esports’ growth.