Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim attributes Carlos Alcaraz’s recent slump to the player’s inability to maintain his level of play after the US Open, while stressing there is no reason to panic.
Wertheim noted that Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were also “shut down” after the U.S. Open because there were no Grand Slam tournaments in October and November Can be beaten.
During the course of Canada’s Match Point Podcast, the renowned tennis journalist believed that the myriad of commitments taking a toll on players during a difficult season.
“Remember Serena Williams, and to some extent Federer and Nadal, they basically just shut it down. I quit after the U.S. Open. I wasn’t fit to play September, October, Eleven month of tennis.
“I think we’ve got a little bit of that, if I was a fan of Alcaraz, I wouldn’t be too alarmed, and if I was in his camp, I wouldn’t be too alarmed.”
Carlos Alcaraz lost to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open semifinals and then to Yannik Sinner in the China Open semifinals.
Referring to the Spaniard’s humiliating loss to Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Shanghai Masters, Wertheim noted that sponsor commitments and the pursuit of ranking points left players “hitting the wall.” I’ve added:
“The night he lost to Medvedev at the U.S. Open and he didn’t quite do it, that’s one thing. Losing to Dimitrov is another thing. Honestly, I think some of that Just a feature. People are saying the same thing, what happened with Holger Rune, I think for some of these players, they just hit a wall.”
“There’s a lot that goes into tennis, their commitment to the game, their commitment to their sponsors, there’s still ranking points, there’s still the chase for No. 1. I think there’s a limit to what we can expect from these athletes.”
Year-end battle for world number one between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will keep fans on their toes
While there may be no more Grand Slam matches, the nascent but fierce rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz and their battle for the No. 1 spot in the ATP continues to excite tennis fans .
Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest player ever to hold the title of men’s tennis champion after winning the 2022 US Open.
Alcaraz’s first Grand Slam title came in the absence of the Serbian, who was banned from entering the United States last year due to his vaccination status. The two competed for world number one at Wimbledon earlier this year.
After taking over the coveted berth from Djokovic ahead of Wimbledon, Alkaraz secured his place at the helm of the tournament by defeating the Serb in a dramatic Wimbledon final.
With Novak Djokovic once again at the top of the ATP Rankings, Alcaraz has a tough task on his hands if he wants to end the season as the ATP World No. 1. Losing to Grigor Dimitrov in Shanghai didn’t help the Top 20 cause. The age-old will make his debut at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
This will be followed by an exciting showdown between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, who will compete in the Paris Masters and the year-end ATP Finals in Turin. Djokovic currently has 11,045 points in the rankings, while Alcaraz trails the 24-time Grand Slam champion with 8,805 points.