Carlos Alcaraz, although just 20 years old, has grown by leaps and bounds in the tennis world. A player who joined the pro tour just five years ago has taken it by storm, winning two majors as a teenager. However, he recently suffered his first major stumbling block after being stopped from defending his title at Flushing Meadows. Just as winning Wimbledon allowed him to see the beautiful side of the tennis world, confronting a semi-final defeat against Daniil Medvedev at the US Open has caused the Spaniard to ponder over himself.
Although the world’s top-ranked tennis player entered the tournament this year with a totally different outlook and two Grand Slam titles in his kitty, he revealed a harsh reality check for himself.
Carlos Alcaraz comes face-to-face with a hard truth
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Looking at the way the 20-year-old tennis player was performing on the court, there were high expectations of him reaching the Grand Slam final in New York. But after facing defeat at the hands of Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, during the post-match press conference, the 2022 US Open champion highlighted how he has to work on himself to handle these kinds of losses on the tennis court.
He said, “You know, I thought that, you know, right now I am better player to find solutions when the match is not going in the right direction for you. But, you know, after this match, you know, I gonna change my mind. I’m not mature enough to handle these kind of matches. So I have to learn about it.” He did, however, emphasize how, even if he had previously believed himself to be mature, important games or tournament finals may change a person completely or make him a little more mature.
While winning Wimbledon was the biggest highlight of this year for Alcaraz, the Cincinnati final defeat, not the US Open semi-final loss, made him think more and more about how to handle these kinds of situations. Nevertheless, after the quarterfinal victory, the 2022 US Open champion talked about his growth since his maiden Grand Slam victory last year and feeling more mature on the tennis court this year.
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Alcaraz on his growth as a tennis player
After the world’s top-ranked tennis player defeated 12th-seeded Alexander Zverev to enter the semi-finals, he asserted that he has grown into a professional, looking into the growth he has seen on the tennis court.
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He highlighted how last year, at this time, he was in his first semi-finals of a Grand Slam, but now he is getting ready for his fourth one. Even though he feels fantastic about his growth, he still thinks that he needs to be more understanding about how to handle certain significant losses.
What is your take on the 20-year-old tennis player’s self-assessment? Do you agree with him? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.