After losing in the Argentina Open semifinal, Carlos Alcaraz acknowledged that he still needs to improve in one key area as his little trophy drought continues.
Since defeating Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in July of last year, world No. 2 Alcaraz has not won a title. He last competed in a final in August, losing to the Serbian at the Cincinnati Open.
Being the only player ranked in the top ten in the Buenos Aires tournament, the Spaniard was supposed to have an easy ride. However, his trip came to an end in the final four when Nicolas Jarry defeated him 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, giving the Chilean one of his biggest career victories.
For most of the match, the top seed posed a frustrated figure. As Jarry was getting closer to winning the second set, he lost a point at 40-40 on the Chilean’s serve and tossed his racket on the ground. The racket swung across the court and shortly after Jarry prevailed on his second match point, Alcaraz was eliminated from the competition.
After the game, the 20-year-old talked candidly about his difficulties and acknowledged that he needs to improve at analyzing matches.
Alcaraz expressed his thoughts after the match and said: “It’s a difficult defeat; it hurt me a lot. There are many things to improve, and my level has to go up. I played good tennis but it was very far from my real level. I felt good physically and it’s important, and I think that with work I will get better but having opportunities is difficult.”
He further said: “The positive thing is that I see that I have a lot of things to improve. I am learning that I have to read the matches better to give my best version in moments of tension. Today I lacked that in the 0-30, in the break-points, to be able to play differently there.”
Carlos Alcaraz in 2024
Currently the world no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 17th of February when he was overcome by world no.21 Nicolas Jarry 7-6(2) 6-3 in the semifinal in Buenos Aires (draw).
Currently, during this season the Spaniard achieved a composed 6-2 match record. Carlos Alcaraz’s latest run in Buenos Aires was the best achievement of his season.
Carlos Alcaraz |
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