Amid Testing Times for Carlos Alcaraz, Former WTA Pro Instills Faith Among the Fans With an Optimistic Take

Carlos Alcaraz’s ambition to end the season on the highest note is shot down in flames after his early exit from Paris. The world number 2, recently experienced a shocking defeat to the number 45, Roman Safiullin in under 2 hours. The dip in form has been a major concern for his fans recently, but the former Australian professional tennis player thinks otherwise. Everyone has bad days is what people are naturally inclined to think and the WTA Pro has nothing but praises for Alcaraz’s great shot-making skills.

Safiullin defeated Carlos Alcaraz comfortably by a 6-3,6-4 margin to mark the biggest win of his career. This was the first time that Carlitos lost his first match in a Masters 1000 event since going down to Tommy Paul in the Canadian Open last year. But what might have hurt him most is the heavy blow that came with this defeat to finish the season atop in Pepperstone ATP rankings for the second straight season. What might be the reason for this sudden dip in form? 

The dip in the form Carlos Alcaraz sparks mixed reactions

Carlos Alcaraz was looking to make a comeback after sustaining severe lower back and lower foot injuries in Shanghai, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16. He looked quite rusty and fans couldn’t find the same intensity in the former number one’s play. This defeat turned out to be the biggest surprise of the year so far, and he looked absolutely heartbroken and bereaved with the loss. But Casey Dellacqua believes his recent dip in form is not worrying at all. She asks fans to be more rational with their expectations and urges them not to jump to conclusions too early. Here’s what she said at The AO Show Weekly podcast.

The 38-year-old former tennis player said, ‘Yeah, look, I mean, I think it’s just such a long season, isn’t it? It’s just week in week out. And I’m not surprised to see, you know, these kind of unexpected, I guess, random results where you see a loss to a player like Alcaraz. I mean, we know he’s, you know, still developing in terms of his mentality and that. But it is such a tough sport. And obviously, it’s not over. There’s so, you know, massive, I guess, a massive event on the line with ATP finals, when you’re talking about rankings, prize money points. And, you know, there’s no doubt it’s going to take its toll.‘

She further added, ‘So yeah, look, some unexpected results, as I said. But in saying that, you just, you have to still expect those along the lines at different events. Even though we probably think of Carlos Alcaraz. And when he’s in a tournament, we kind of expect him to just go ahead and win win, or at least make the final of every event. Right. But I think we just have to realize that we’re still going to see probably that fluctuation in terms of results like that every now and then.‘ This loss has placed a huge ladder in front of the young Spaniard lad to reach the top and thwart wins from the Serbian. Can he surpass these odds? The 20-year-old star faces a noteworthy challenge before him.

READ MORE: Paris Masters Humbling Leads to a Reality Check for Carlos Alcaraz as He Discloses True Feelings Ahead of ATP Finals

Carlos Alcaraz looks for a miracle to reestablish his greatness

6 times Paris Masters champion, Novak Djokovic looks for his 7th. Now, he even has an opportunity to extend his lead over the number 2. Can he do it? Well, time will tell. But if he manages to lift the trophy in Bercy, he would extend his 500 points lead to 1495 points. That’s a huge margin to enter the season-ending tournament in Turin later this month. Alcaraz will now sit back at home and cheer for every opponent that the world number one faces in Paris.

Fans are still reluctant to back down the 20-year-old second-best in the world. But this defeat in Paris has completely destroyed his confidence but hasn’t dented his intentions. Can Alcaraz make a comeback and end the year positively?

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