Alex Correjta has refuted claims that Carlos Alcaraz had a subpar season by his typically high standards, especially after his losses during the Asian swing.
World No 2 Alcaraz has ended his trip to China without any silverware as he followed up his semi-final loss to Jannik Sinner at the China Open with a round of 16 defeat to Grigor Dimitrov at the Shanghai Masters.
Both defeats dealt a major blow to the Spaniard’s hopes of finishing the year as the world No 1 player and some have suggested that his season has not been as good as he had initially anticipated.
Alcaraz is currently 63-9 and five of those defeats have come after he won Wimbledon – his last title of the 2023 campaign.
However, the Spaniard has already won six titles this year compared to five in 2022 while last year he finished the campaign with a 57–13 record.
It is no surprise that tennis pundit and former world No 2 Corretja labelled his season as “spectacular” as the Spaniard believes the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have distorted our perceptions of what is considered normal.
“Alcaraz’s Asian tour is not worrying. I don’t give it any importance,” he told Eurosport.
“Every tournament, every week, every game is a learning experience for Alcaraz, his season is being spectacular. Better almost impossible. [For] Carlos there will come a time when he will have to select tournaments like [Novak] Djokovic.
“We are used to times when Nadal, Djokovic and 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.”
Dimitrov claimed his first win over Alcaraz after losing the first three clashes in their head-to-head, emerging victorious with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Corretja believes the Bulgarian’s style of play may have surprised the two-time Grand Slam winner.
“Dimitrov plays tennis a little different from what they are used to now. He changes the heights, with the backhand he can vary you with the slice, he has a good serve,” he added.
“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.”
