Carlos Alcaraz has been warned that he will need to make a change in order to keep competing at the highest level. The world No 2 suffered another disappointing exit during the Asian swing, crashing out in the round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters. And fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja told Alcaraz that he needs to re-evaluate his schedule in the future.
Alcaraz experienced his first Asian swing this year where he was trying to make up some extra ranking points in his quest to finish the year as the world No 1. But the 20-year-old suffered defeat at both tournaments. He reached the semi-final in Beijing before losing to Jannik Sinner.
In Shanghai, the two-time Grand Slam champion suffered his earliest loss since May when Grigor Dimitrov defeated him in the round of 16. Following his exit, Alcaraz admitted he “lost a lot of opportunities” to end the year as No 1 and vowed to try and be at his best for his last three tournaments of the season.
The world No 2 has now received some advice from retired tennis star Corretja, who believes that the results aren’t worrying but could show Alcaraz that he needs to adjust his schedule. “Alcaraz’s Asian tour is not worrying. I don’t give it any importance,” he told Eurosport.
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“Every tournament, every week, every game is a learning experience for Alcaraz, his season is being spectacular. Better almost impossible. Carlos there will come a time when he will have to select tournaments like [Novak] Djokovic.”
Djokovic himself has already been selective, opting to skip the Asian swing for some extra rest following his triumph at the US Open where he captured a 24th Grand Slam title. And Corretja also thought that the level of Djokovic and his Big Three rivals shouldn’t be used to judge Alcaraz’s results.
He continued: “We are used to times when [Rafael] Nadal, Djokovic and [Roger] 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 per cent in the 80 games he plays a year is impossible.”
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Alcaraz is now set to finish the season by playing the Swiss Indoors Basel, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals. But former world No 2 Corretja believes that the Spaniard may want to change his plans in the future to maintain his place at the top of the sport.
“One of the keys for Alcaraz is to select the calendar well, due to travel, training, and changes in schedules and hotels,” he added. For now, the 20-year-old will focus on ending his season well and trying to claw back the No 1 ranking from Djokovic.
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