Carlos Alcaraz won Indian Wells last week (Image: Getty)
Carlos Alcaraz admitted that his nerves got the better of him as he faced Matteo Arnaldi in his first match in Indian Wells.
Carlos Alcaraz has admitted that he wasn’t dealing well with his nerves at the beginning of his match in Indian Wells before going on to win it. The world No. 2 is the defending champion this fortnight but he came in undercooked after getting injured at the recent Rio Open. Despite his shaky start, Alcaraz managed to beat dangerous young Italian Matteo Arnaldi in three sets.
Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to Indian Wells on Friday night, though it wasn’t without some trouble. The 20-year-old was made to work by world No. 40 Arnaldi in his first match in the Californian desert since he lifted the trophy 12 months ago.
The second seed managed to recover and get back on serve after going down an early break but he still lost the opening set in a tiebreak before finding his groove and storming through the next two to win 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1. After the match, the two-time Major winner explained that his early wobble was down to nerves.
“Well, I was nervous in the first set. That makes me, you know, in some points moving, let’s say, different or with less energy,” Alcaraz said. “But, yeah, in the second and the third set it was totally different.”
While Alcaraz has plenty of experience in defending Masters titles – he did so successfully in Madrid last year – he explained that his recent injury setback made him more tense going into Indian Wells. He continued: “Probably it is the first match. Obviously this is a really special tournament for me. I want to do it well.
“You know, obviously this is the first match playing high intensity, and I didn’t know how it’s gonna respond, the ankle. It was a lot of things coming to my mind. I couldn’t be focused 100 per cent in the match, and it made me get a little bit nervous.”
And the nerves affected his game in the opening set, as Alcaraz explained: “But, you know, I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving, let’s say, different, hitting the ball different. You know, my game is playing aggressive all the time.
“And try to stay calm and wait for my chances. When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big different.”
The injury was also a concern for Alcaraz because it derailed his preparation for the first Masters 1000 of the year, as he couldn’t practice as much as hoped. The 20-year-old fell on his ankle at the beginning of his opening match in Rio last month and retired at 1-1.
He added: “I’m coming here with not too much matches. I think last year, well, I came here with more matches in my bag with more rhythm. Now I’m recovering from injury on the ankle. I was thinking about it all the time, and I couldn’t practice as much as I wanted, the high intensity. But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well, but I think I have to get the good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big different between last year and this one.”
