Carlos Alcaraz's first experience after the Paris Olympics didn't go as well as he was beaten by Gael Monfils in a match in which he demonstrated a lot of frustration.
The Spanish player entered the Paris Olympics with a good chance of winning gold after winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back. His confidence ahead of the final was demonstrated by his teasing the Spanish fans about winning gold, but it didn't go that way.
As many times before, Novak Djokovic produced the best effort of his season at the perfect moment to win the gold medal, the only major tennis achievement he was missing. It was a hugely disappointing loss for Alcaraz, who was in tears on Spanish TV after the match.
It's the type of loss that lingers because he couldn't forget it overnight. The season is moving on, and he's already played an event after that one, but he was not doing well, and it didn't shock many tennis analysts.
One of them is former player and coach Rennae Stubbs, who talked about both the Olympics and the Cincinnati Open on the latest episode of her podcast. She first mentioned the Cincinnati Open, where he smashed a racquet out of frustration, which we haven't seen before.
He's generally known as a really happy player, so seeing him get as frustrated was something new for tennis fans. As Stubbs aided, it was just an anomaly.
"This was such an anomaly to see Carlos Alcaraz lose his mind like that. Our sweet little baby Carlitos, who is literally the nicest guy. I did a Q&A with all the players at Cincinnati and the question I asked every single guy was, 'Who's the happiest and most-liked person in the locker room?', and every single one of them either said Frances Tiafoe or Carlos Alcaraz."
According to Stubbs, it can all be traced back to the Paris Olympics and his match against Djokovic. He entered that match convinced that he was going to win. Everything pointed to him winning it, and he had plenty of chances.
The opening set was very winnable for him, but he simply didn't perform as well as he needed to and lost the match. It broke his brain a little bit, and according to Stubbs, it's still broken.
"His brain is still broken from losing the gold medal. I think he's played a lot of tennis and he's got a lot of pressure on his shoulders now. I think he's tired now. Anyone who came off of playing at the Olympics and was playing in Cincinnati was just, mentally and physically drained."
This whole situation makes the upcoming US Open really interesting. On the one hand, there is Alcaraz, who needs to fix himself rapidly to stand a chance. On the other hand, there is Djokovic, who has proven to himself that he still has it. One of them will very likely end up as champion.
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