Carlos Alcaraz had a really tough match against Jan Lennard Struff at the 2024 Madrid Open, which left him very sore ahead of his match against Andrey Rublev, which he lost.
The match against Struff was a brutal three-hour match that required a lot out of the 20-year-old. He hadn't been used to that much tennis lately, and his body reacted to that.
It obviously made things a lot tougher against Rublev, even though he did have a good start. He faded towards the end of the match and shied away from the forehand even more due to his soreness.
Apparently, he also had a cold, which definitely didn't help either, as he looked very flat towards the end of the match, which contributed to the loss.
"It has been a difficult day for me. The long and intense match against Struff took its toll on me because it had been a while since I had competed at that level, and today I woke up with soreness all over my body and my forearm there. I also have a cold."
The most interesting part of his talk with the media after the loss was the reason why he lost. In Alcaraz's words, it wasn't because he was sore but more so because he wasn't mentally as strong as he generally is.
He had chances, even in that final set when he was down a break, but he didn't use them. That's the type of focus he generally has and didn't have this time around.
"The main thing is that I have been much weaker mentally than normal. I became very complaining about not taking advantage of the opportunities. He played really well, his service was incredible and he gave me few opportunities, which I couldn't take advantage of. That was the key to the match."