Despite some disappointing results during the Asian swing, Carlos Alcaraz’s season has still been ‘spectacular’, according to former world No. 2 Alex Corretja.
20-year-old Alcaraz was knocked out of the China Open in the semi-finals by eventual tournament winner Jannik Sinner earlier this month and recently suffered a shock third round defeat at the hands of Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Shanghai Masters.
The Wimbledon champion has not had much luck since lifting the trophy at the All England Club back in July, yet still boasts an impressive 63-9 record on the season, but Corretja insisted that the Spaniard’s Asian tour ‘is not worrying’ and can be used as a learning curve.
‘’Alcaraz’s Asian tour is not worrying. I don’t give it any importance,” Corretja told Eurosport.
“Every tournament, every week, every game is a learning experience for Alcaraz, his season is being spectacular. Better almost impossible.
‘’Carlos there will come a time when he will have to select tournaments like [Novak] Djokovic.
“We are used to times when [Rafael] Nadal, Djokovic and [Roger] Federer reached the Masters 1000 [events] and won them as if nothing had happened, but it is more normal for him to make a semi-final against Sinner and then be surprised by Dimitrov.
“Maintaining 100% in the 80 games he plays a year is impossible. One of the keys for Alcaraz is to select the calendar well, due to travel, training, and changes in schedules and hotels.’’
The recent disappointing results have significantly damaged Alcaraz’s chance at ending the year as world No. 1 for the second time in his career, but Corretja believes the Spaniard has to look at the bigger picture and use the losses to his advantage.
‘’Dimitrov plays tennis a little different from what they are used to now,’’ Corretja continued.
‘’He changes the heights, with the backhand he can vary you with the slice, he has a good serve. It is a much more varied tennis than what Carlitos is used to, I don’t know if that is what has surprised him.
‘’If Alcaraz plays at his best level, he wins 95% of the games, except when they play among the very good players at the best level. And yet there is always one of them who believes that he has not played at his best level.
“It is good for Alcaraz to understand when he is not at his best level how he can beat players who vary him as Dimitrov may have done.’’
