Greg Rusedski believes Carlos Alcaraz is mentally fatigued from his hectic 2023 campaign and needs a respite to rejuvenate himself for the upcoming season.
The former ATP #4 thinks the 20-year-old appeared frustrated “from Canada all the way to the US Open” and it was something that was unseen in his previous career. Alcaraz’s played a lot of tennis in the months leading up to his title defense at Flushing Meadows but incurred a shock defeat against Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal of the US Open. He reached the final four at the French Open earlier in June and clinched his maiden-grass court title at the Queen’s Club Championships.
In the following month, the Spaniard recorded a marvelous 5-set victory against the defending Wimbledon Champion Novak Djokovic, before winning all his matches for Spain at the Hopman Cup the very next week. The World #2 then reached the final 8 at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open final where he lost to Djokovic in a marathon-three set battle.
Alcaraz in the last week pulled out of the final group stage of Davis Cup as he announced his decision on social media for fans:
“I was very excited to play for 🇪🇸 Davis [Cup team] in Valencia, but I have to listen to my body after a very long tour. I need to stop and rest, physically and mentally.
“The calendar is very demanding, there is still a lot of season left, and now I have to recharge my batteries. Good luck to the Spanish team! 💪🏻 I will be supporting you strongly! Come on!”
Contributing in an episode of Tennis Channel’s Inside-In podcast, Rusedski claimed that the blistering recent spell of tennis in 2023 has drained Murcia-native.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why he (Carlos Alcaraz) missed the Davis Cup. Because mentally he is so fatigued from everything that he’s been through. He needs a little break,” assessed the British-Canadian.
“Let’s not forget, from Canada all the way to the US Open, we saw more frustration in Carlos than we’ve seen throughout the last few years. So this is a nice time for him to reset.”
The 1997 US Open runner-up and also a 15-time ATP titlist also discussed the prospects of Djokovic-Alcaraz final contest at the year-end ATP Finals in Turin.
“I think we could see that. I think Carlos has something to prove as he will be bitterly disappointed. He wants to throw the gauntlet down for the beginning of the year at Australian (Open). I think that he’s going to be in great shape physically and mentally,” said Rusedski.
“I do hope we get that final. But conditions also are pretty quick, pretty fast. And they have some Italian guy there they might be cheering for – [Jannik] Sinner. Djokovic in Italy is absolutely loved. He is the fan favourite. I have a lot of Italian friends, [to them it’s] ‘Djokovic, Djokovic, Djokovic.’”