Carlos Alcaraz didn’t have an excellent second half of the 2023 ATP season, and many wondered whether his hype was oversold.
Truthfully and respectfully, it was not. The Big Three was never the norm for tennis, and Carlos Alcaraz’s trajectory looked more like the Big Three than anything else. That tells you everything you need to know, but let’s add a bit of glazing to the cake.
He’s the youngest number one ever; he’s a two-time Grand Slam champion, one of which came at Wimbledon, a major played on grass, a surface on which he’s far from being a specialist.
He also bested Novak Djokovic in the final, becoming the first man in a decade to beat him on the Centre Court of Wimbledon. So, he certainly is not overhyped. The problem in the second half was a combination of injuries and an inability to find his best tennis.
For Boris Becker, who spoke to Eurosport, it goes hand in hand. His motivation probably suffered a bit, and then his body followed along as he didn’t practice as hard as he needed to. You can’t take days off in tennis because it never stops.
When motivation weakens, the body also suffers. If you skip one or two training sessions. That’s what happened to me. It’s happened to every successful 20-year-old.
Becker knows enough about Alcaraz to predict that he will practice very hard during the winter break. He won’t be okay with the way the season ended, and he’ll be highly motivated to turn things around.
I am convinced, with Carlos Ferrero at his side, that Carlos is going into the winter break highly motivated and is looking forward to Melbourne and the new season.
Before he touches down in Australia, he’ll face Novak Djokovic in Saudi Arabia. That’s coming up in a few days so look forward to that.
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