Mats Wilander recently gave his thoughts on Carlos Alcaraz’s quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open on Wednesday (January 24).
Alcaraz began the match by hitting a slew of unforced errors, gifting Zverev the first two sets 6-1 and 6-3. Although the Spaniard was able to regroup in the following set, which he won in a tiebreaker, his efforts were too little, too late as the sixth seed eventually closed out the match 6-1, 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4.
In his exclusive L’Equipe column (via Eurosport), the eight-time Major winner Mats Wilander asserted that Alcaraz can be too stubborn with his tactics at times. The Swede added that while the Spaniard is the most exciting player to watch when his game is on, his approach can also contribute to uncharacteristic defeats.
“[Alcaraz] constantly maintains his character as a risk-taking player, whether the score is 0-0 or 5-5,” Wilander wrote. “When [Alcaraz] plays well, he is the most fun and exciting player I have ever seen in my life , but this personality can cause defeats like this.”
Wilander also delved deeper into Alcaraz’s performance in the first two sets of his quarterfinal match in Melbourne.
“Carlos Alcaraz’s strange choice of blows at the beginning of a match in which he was clearly in a bad mood,” the Swede added in his column. “It’s like he didn’t realize that he had to find his rhythm first before he let the horses loose.”
Carlos Alcaraz to play in the South American clay-court swing next
Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, will be heading to Latin America next. The Spaniard is on the entry list for the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, which begins on February 12.
Alcaraz, who won the ATP 250 tournament last year, will be joined by the likes of Nicolas Jarry, Francisco Cerundolo, and Cameron Norrie as the top four seeds. The World No. 2 will then be playing at the ATP 500 tournament in Rio the following week.
The 20-year-old reached the final of the event last year, before injuring his leg in a three-set defeat to Cameron Norrie. He will also be defending a horde of ATP ranking points at the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters, where the young Spaniard won the title and reached the semifinals, respectively.
