Carlos Alcaraz’s strong self-criticism after the defeat in the semifinals of the Argentine Open: “It hurt me a lot”

Carlos Alcaraz arrived in Buenos Aires with the aim of defending the title won last year during his first visit to Argentina Open. But throughout the tournament, he was far from his best and in the semi-final he averaged Nicholas Jarry inspired, who played an impeccable match, beating him in two sets and leaving him one step away from the final. And after that fall, the Spaniard, who had already warned in the previous days that he did not feel like a tennis “crack”, made a sincere self-criticism, but also assured that he had drawn positive things from the period spent in Buenos Aires ATP.

“For me it is a difficult defeat, which hurt me a lot. I had many opportunities and I wasn’t able to exploit them, especially in the first set. And when you miss a lot of opportunities against players like Jarry, it costs you dearly. It’s also true that Nico is playing very well. With the game, the game and the serve that he has it makes it difficult for you to get into the match”, he analyzed the world number two.

And I add: “It was a complicated tournament. It was the first clay court tournament in a long time and I knew that the first match would be difficult for me and I still felt good about my level of tennis. But I played against players who were quite uncomfortable and had a lot of ups and downs which I can’t allow for the future. “Maybe this week leaves me with a lot of things to work on to improve.”

At just 20 years old, Alcaraz is one of the biggest stars on the circuit. Former world number one and winner of two Grand Slam tournaments (the US Open 2022 AND Wimbledon 2023), his mere presence in a competition generates enormous expectations. He assured that with his team they try not to think about it and concentrate on their daily work.

“Many people think I have to win every match. But this is tennis. There are many top-level players, like Jarry, who can beat anyone. And I try not to think about the expectations people place on me, but rather about our journey, what we need to improve.. Defeats like this hurt, but we always try to think positively, about what we can get from these types of matches so that what happened today is not repeated,” she said.

Did Carlitos take anything positive from this edition of the Buenos Aires competition? Yes.

“The positive thing is that I have many things to improve, this is also positive. I have to be able to read the matches better, give my all in moments of tension, which is something I lacked today. In moments of 0-30 or break points against I have to play better than I did today. I see those who are up there and it is in those moments that they make the difference. And for me it’s an unfinished business. “These are things to improve for the next tournaments”, she explained, without losing her smile.

“The level must rise. I’m playing good tennis, but far from my real level. I prepared well for this tournament and felt good physically, which is important. I think cWith work I will be able to improve and play better and better. These types of defeats hurt, but we have to move forward“He added.

What is the future of Alcaraz? He ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, his last tournament on the South American clay court tour. Then he will travel to the United States, where he will play The Netflix slaman exhibition in Las Vegas with Rafael Nadal on March 3, which will be broadcast live on that platform. And then he will play the Masters 1000 of Indian wells AND You love mebefore returning to Europe for the slow court tour, which will end in Roland Garros.