Carlos Alcaraz has lost his ‘smile’ since winning Wimbledon claims Mats Wilander who draws a parallel of his dip to the Big-3

Grigor Dimitrov defeated Carlos Alcaraz 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the round-of-16 of the 2023 Shanghai Masters.

Carlos Alcaraz has lost his ‘smile’ since winning Wimbledon claims Mats Wilander who draws a parallel of his dip to the Big-3

(L) Mats Wilander; (R) Carlos Alcaraz (Via eurosport/ndtv sports)

Carlos Alcaraz has seen a somewhat downward trajectory in his career ever since he won the 2023 Wimbledon Open and it is evident. Ever since then, he has lost the Cincinnati Open final to Novak Djokovic, the US Open semifinal to Daniil Medvedev, and the China Open semifinal to Jannik Sinner. And now he got eliminated from the round-of-16 of the 2023 Shanghai Masters by losing to Grigor Dimitrov. 

Former Swedish tennis player Mats Wilander has opined that the pressure of being one of the best players in the world is probably getting under the skin of Carlos Alcaraz. He said that the Spaniard has ‘lost his smile’ ever since winning the 2023 Wimbledon Open. 

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“The most important thing is the smile he brings to the field. When there’s pressure, he’s always there having fun and you can tell he’s having fun because he’s smiling. It’s so new.”

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“Even the great Roger Federer didn’t do that. Nadal certainly not, Djokovic from time to time, but not in the same way. He needs to start having fun on the court again. He looks so much tenser since Wimbledon,” he said. (H/T: welovetennis)

Alcaraz’s defeat to Grigor Dimitrov in the round-of-16 match of the ongoing 2023 Shanghai Masters goes on to show that something is really wrong with the Spaniard, as this was the first time that he lost to the Bulgarian and it came as a complete shock to everyone. The 20-year-old won the first set with ease, but Dimitrov pulled off a sensational comeback victory, winning the match 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. 

Read More: Carlos Alcaraz’s disappointing Asian leg not concerning for Alex Corretja, compares the results to the likes of Big-3

Carlos Alcaraz’s defeat gives Novak Djokovic a sensational ranking boost 

Novak Djokovic did not play in the China Open or the Shanghai Masters. Yet, as it stands, he now has a tremendous advantage and leads in the rankings just because Carlos Alcaraz performed poorly. 

Carlos Alcaraz (L), Novak Djokovic (R)
Carlos Alcaraz (L), Novak Djokovic (R) (Sources: Cincy Tennis/X)

After his defeat against Grigor Dimitrov, Alcaraz is now 2,240 points behind Djokovic. This makes his goal of regaining the World No. 1 position extremely difficult. However, things can change if the Spaniard has a sensational end to the season, and the Serbian keeps on delaying his return to the court. The fewer events the Serb plays in, the better for Alcaraz, provided he is able to perform well in all of them. 

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