"I have to learn and take lessons" - Alcaraz on first ATP loss as world no. 1
ATP
Carlos Alcaraz seemed to be motivated by his first ATP loss as the World No. 1 player. The loss came at the 2022 Astana Open.
Alcaraz lost his first ATP match as the World No. 1 player to lucky-loser David Goffin in the first round of the 2022 Astana Open. A couple of weeks ago, the 19-year-old Spaniard stated that although Daniil Medvedev mentioned that he felt pressure as the World No. 1, he didn't feel that way.
At the 2022 Davis Cup, Carlos Alcaraz experienced his first win as the No. 1 player as well as his first loss as the highest-ranked player in the world.
However, before the 2022 Astana Open, he had never entered an ATP tournament as the World No. 1 player, so a lot of things were different for him in Kazakhstan.
Eventually, he lost in two sets for the first time in 2022, and after the match, he admitted that he couldn't handle the pressure from his opponent throughout the match.
"He has played great matches, a lot of matches. He has a lot of experience as well. He played better than me, really, really aggressive. I couldn’t handle that pressure that he was pushing on me, and of course, it’s something that I have to learn and take lessons from this match."
Alcaraz admitted that he couldn't get used to the conditions. Eventually, he didn't have the necessary confidence, and the mix of these circumstances cost him the win.
"It was a tough match, as you can see. He was playing really, really well. Coming back to competition is never easy. He played two matches here on this court. It’s not easy to get used to, it’s really, really slow."
"It was really tough on me, for my confidence. I tried to get used to this court so quickly, but I couldn’t and he was better than me in this match."
