Carlos Alcaraz ended the 2023 season this Saturday. The Murcian bowed out of the ATP Finals after losing in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-2 in a match where he barely stood a chance against an opponent who reached the month of November in better shape.
And without a doubt, since the US Open, Alcaraz has dropped his performance after an anthological summer in which he won the Wimbledon and Queen’s titles, in addition to reaching a memorable final against Djokovic at the Cincinnati Masters 1000.
His coach spoke about the reasons for the decline in performance of the world number 2, Juan Carlos Ferreroon program microphones ‘SER Sports Carousel. For the former champion at Roland Garros, his student “has to know that the season is long, that it is his job and he cannot have as many breaks as he would like. If you want to be the best, you have to act the best and be professional all year round. It is what it is and we have to accept it. The calendar is what we have“.
Ferrero said the calendar “is what it is and there are obligations on the part of the ATP to play the Masters 1000 and the ITF for the Grand Slams. It would be difficult to make the calendar shorter than what we have done this year. 18 tournaments played, which is really few, but he’s had a lot of games and that’s what led him to such a level of mental fatigue in the end.“.
Regarding the match with Djokovic, Ferrero explained that Alcaraz “is still 20 years old. A lot of people said when he was number one that he still has a lot to do and in these types of situations it shows. On a tennis level, on this type of surface, we still have a little bit more to do, and on a mental level, going into it knowing that you’re going to have a very difficult match, you have to be a little more prepared. Novak, in that aspect, has many advantages over us. You have to do everything, but you have to get used to the fact that if you play at such a high level, every week you have a demand to win, to play against the best and that demand, sometimes, will take you to the limit . of mental fatigue, which is what happened to him at the end of the season. Ultimately, these are experiences that, if you realize and listen to, you can obviously learn a lot from them and improve them for the next year.”
“In the end, when we stayed in the locker room, I told him that he has many advantages on this type of surface and he will play well, but we need more time. For that, we have an indoor track where we train and he can achieve it. It ended up feeling really bad, like feeling a little low, but I think that’s a little far from the truth.. We all know Djokovic is the best of all time and the best right now and indoors it’s getting harder to beat him” he concluded.
Source: La Verdad
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