How did Carlos Alcaraz go from 'future GOAT' to 'overrated' in a few weeks?

| by Kadir Macar

Carlos Alcaraz had an incredible start of the season when he won virtually everything but it may seem that he slowed down his pace in the second part of the season.

The young Spaniard started his season with a dominant triumph in Rio de Janeiro. Then, he played semifinals in Indian Wells and won the title at Miami Open. Soon after that, Carlos Alcaraz won tournament in Barcelona and Madrid and he was considered as one of the top favourites to win the 2022 Roland Garros.

Alcaraz throws away match point to lose first match in Montreal to Paul
Alcaraz throws away match point to lose first match in Montreal to Paul

At this point, many referred to the Spaniard as the 'future GOAT' or 'multiple Grand Slams winner'. However, Alcaraz lost his quarterfinal match to Alexander Zverev who played one of the best tournaments in his career.

Then, he also lost in the fourth round of the Wimbledon to Jannik Sinner and he also lost two finals in a row (in Hamburg and Umag) to Italians Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner.

"I grew up so fast" - Alcaraz on his fast growth and being 2nd seeded in Montreal
"I grew up so fast" - Alcaraz on his fast growth and being 2nd seeded in Montreal

After changing from clay to hard-courts, Alcaraz lost his opening match at the ATP 1000 event in Montreal despite being the second-seeded and soon critics started appearing and calling the teenager 'overrated'.

But did anything change and did Carlos Alcaraz show worse performances than he did a few months ago? Not really. Before winning the titles in Barcelona and Madrid, the Spaniard started with a loss to Sebastian Korda in Monte Carlo.

Grass is a relatively new surface for Alcaraz and so he was never expected to go far at the Wimbledon and after the grass-court Grand Slam, he played two ATP finals. It's true that he never lost an ATP final before and losing two in a row may seem as a shocking result, but the fact is that he reached two finals in a row and climbed to the fourth place in the ATP Rankings.

"Carlos, you improve every week, every tournament" - Sinner praises Alcaraz following Umag win
"Carlos, you improve every week, every tournament" - Sinner praises Alcaraz following Umag win

So does his second-round loss to Tommy Paul in Montreal indicate that Carlos Alcaraz is overrated? Although many tennis fans are not shy of saying that, this loss is not really significant in the Spaniard's career.

Remember, he also lost in Monte Carlo before winning two titles in a row and it wouldn't be a surprise if he did the same in Cincinnati and at the 2022 US Open where he might be considered as one of the top favourites agin.

How Medvedev can retain his number 1 rank against Alcaraz's and Nadal's push
How Medvedev can retain his number 1 rank against Alcaraz's and Nadal's push

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