“Yet another victim,” Fans react to Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal from the Australian Open calling it ‘US Open’s curse’ citing examples of Thiem, Medvedev, Raducanu
Carlos Alcaraz is finding it very tough to maintain his fitness after winning the US Open. He recovered from abdominal injury but a new injury has led him to sit out of the Australian Open 2023.
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Carlos Alcaraz (Image Credit: EuroSport)
The US Open is the last Grand Slam of the year. It is played in the months of August-September every year. Hence, it is considered as one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. However, in the last few years, a phenomena has come to everyone’s notice. The winners of the US Open men’s singles title are often found struggling with either fitness or form. This is known as ‘The US Open curse’.
Dominic Thiem stole the limelight after winning the 2020 US Open. He defeated Alexander Zverev in the final to clinch the title. The Austrian also played in the final of the ATP Finals 2020 against Daniil Medvedev but lost. He entered the 2021 season riding on high hopes and expectations. However, he lost his Group stage matches against Matteo Berrettini in the ATP Cup and fourth round match against Grigor Dmitrov in Australian Open 2021. Soon, he sustained a knee injury and a wrist injury, which kept him out for most of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Daniil Medvedev won the 2021 US Open by beating Novak Djokovic in the final. He played in the final of the ATP Finals 2021 against Alexander Zverev. However, he lost the match. He also played in the final of the Australian Open 2022 against Rafael Nadal but lost. Since then, he is struggling with form and maintaining his fitness at peak levels. He had his worst ATP season last year. Carlos Alcaraz is the current US Open champion.
Eminent journalist Jose Morgado shared the news of Carlos Alcaraz’s wthdrawal from the Australian Open 2023 due to a leg injury in his latest social media post.
The World No.1 is the third male tennis player on the list who is suffering from the US Open curse. He won the 2022 US Open title. However, he sustained an abdominal injury in the 2022 Paris Masters and lost the semi-final round match against eventual winner Holger Rune. He is trying to recover from that injury; however, the recent news has arrived that the Spaniard would not be playing in the 2023 Australian Open as he picked up a leg injury during practice.
Related: Novak Djokovic wins his 100th match in Australia to accomplish a rare feat
Social media are also noticing this phenomena
The US Open curse has found many victims over the years. This phenomena has also found its victims in female tennis. Naomi Osaka won her first Grand Slam title, i.e. the US Open 2018, by defeating Serena Williams in the final. She backed it up by winning the Australian Open 2019 title. She soon became World No.1 in 2019 after this win. However, she struggled with form and fitness for the rest of the season.
The US Open curse also got over Bianca Andreescu. She won the 2019 US Open title. But is struggling with form since. She also had to miss most of the 2020 and 2021 season due to fitness issues.
Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open. However, she also reached among Top 10 in the WTA rankings. However, she had a terrible season in 2022. She could not win even a single WTA tournament and her miserable form continued in the Grand Slams.
Meanwhile, social media users are also commenting on Carlos Alcaraz’s recent injury woes and how he became the lastest victim of US Open curse. Here are a few reactions that came in.
“NOOOOOOOOO, but the luck of this boy since he won the US Open is for study. Sad,” her caption read in English. (Translated through Google Translate).
Iga Swiatek is the 2022 US Open winner. She started the 2023 season by playing in the United Cup for Team Poland. It will be interesting to watch how she saves herself in the 2023 season.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)