“It was the first time that I couldn’t handle the pressure,” Carlos Alcaraz opens up about his nightmare opening match loss at the Canadian Open

“It was the first time that I couldn’t handle the pressure,” Carlos Alcaraz opens up about his nightmare opening match loss at the Canadian Open

Carlos Alcaraz

Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz has been on a roll all year long but the 19-year-old suffered a major setback this week at the Canadian Open as he lost his opening match despite being seeded No.2 in the tournament. Alcaraz lost the match in three sets 6-7(4),7-6(7),6-3 to American Tommy Paul. This was only the second instance that Alcaraz lost a match this year after winning the first set.

Alcaraz is currently on a career-high ranking of No.4 in the world and was playing a Masters tournament for the first time as the No.2 seed. After the match, Alcaraz spoke about the pressure he was under and acknowledged that he let the pressure factor get into his mind.

“I could say I couldn’t show my best performance here,” Alcaraz said after the match. “But as I said, first rounds, you have to fight against your opponent and of course against yourself. Obviously, it was tough to handle those moments knowing that I’m not playing my 100 percent, let’s say… It was a fight with myself.”

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“I have to be ready to have this pressure”: Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz also accepted and revealed that he was under pressure for the very first time and also said on social media that will be better prepared for such situations in the future.

“It was the first time that I couldn’t handle the pressure… I have to be ready to have this pressure, to have this kind of moment, and to learn how to handle it!” he wrote on Twitter.

It is to be noted that this is the first season where Alcaraz is tasting success properly. He has already won two Masters titles and two ATP 500 titles and has broken into the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. He is also currently No.2 in the Race to Turin.

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