Carlos Alcaraz gets brutally honest after crashing out of Shanghai Masters and rushes home
Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he played “really bad” as he was sent packing in the third round of the Shanghai Masters. This has historically been one of the Spaniard’s less successful tournaments, and he missed the event last year. But Alcaraz’s 7-5 7-6(4) defeat to unseeded Belgian Zizou Bergs still came as a huge shock. The No. 2 seed struggled throughout the match, and became animated as he ranted to his team about the conditions. And Alcaraz has now brutally slammed his performance, admitting he wanted to go straight home and get back to work.
Alcaraz made 25 unforced errors and hit two double faults during the two-hour match, and admitted that he was left so desperate that he hoped to get “lucky” with some shots. “Today it wasn’t a good match for my side. I didn’t play good. I would say it was a really bad level for me, and it was a really good level from him,” the world No. 3 declared..
I would say, even like that, I think it was a close match. I would say, in few important moments I didn’t play my best. I could say there were a few moments that he was lucky as well, that’s what I think.
“You know, some returns, some shots he hit it with the frame, it went in, and he just went into the point again. He made the most of those moments because after that, I would say, lucky shot, he played a really good point. He played a really good level in some moments.
“I would say, I was asking for a lucky toss, you know, in the match in some specific moments, but it didn’t come. And I would say tennis, it is what it is. [In] some moments he made the most of his chances, he took the chances, and that’s it. All I can say right now is, I got to be back home, I got to be ready for next, and I got to be on the practice [courts] once again, and trying to play better in the next tournament.
The second seed in Shanghai also struggled to find anything that satisfied him about his game on Monday. Asked what he wasn’t happy with, Alcaraz replied: Well, I would say everything. To be honest, I didn’t play the way that I wanted to play, a lot of mistakes.
“I didn’t find a good position on the return. For example, I was returning pretty well. Today I didn’t find a good one. Obviously credit to him. I would say he serves really, really well.
“But when I got into the rhythm, when I got into the point, I made a lot of mistakes. I wasn’t feeling comfortable with the shots. So I’m really disappointed from today’s match, because I didn’t find the solution. I would say I just made a lot of unforced errors.
Alcaraz only returned from a four-and-a-half-month wrist injury layoff in late August. Since then, he’s reached the quarter-finals of the US Open, won two matches at the Laver Cup, and defended his Tokyo title. For now, the 23-year-old is focusing on the negatives. But he knows there are plenty of positives from his comeback.
“I mean, I played great tournaments. Obviously taking the positive things from today is really difficult. Right now, I didn’t take it yet,” he explained. “So I will try the next few days to think clearly. Right now, you know, all the negative thoughts comes to my mind and none of the positives. But I think I will take it, you know, the good things about having the matches.
