Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz must take a measured approach to the upcoming clay swing in order to prevent the threat of injury derailing him, according to former world No.1 Boris Becker.
The 18-year-old Spaniard has enjoyed a breakthrough start to the 2022 season where he has rewritten the record books. In February Alcaraz became the youngest player in history to win an ATP 500 event in Rio de Janeiro since the series began. A month later he claimed the biggest title of his career yet after winning the Miami Masters. Becoming the third youngest player in history to win a Masters event after Michael Chang and Rafael Nadal.
Now tipped by many as a future star of the men’s game given his surge in success at such a young age, Alcaraz is facing high expectations from pundits heading into next month’s French Open which will be only his sixth appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Former player Alex Corretja recently said he believed the Spaniard ‘has a real shot’ at winning the title.
However, Becker is more cautious when it comes to what lies ahead for Alcaraz in the near future. During an interview with Eurosport, the German has urged the world No.11 to take a break from the Tour ahead of Roland Garros and believes he must not ‘believe his own hype.’
“He must not believe his own hype now,” Becker told Eurosport.
“He’s not the best yet. He is the high-flyer of the scene. The way he played this year, there was only one player who was better and he is also from Spain (Nadal). But the clay court season is exhausting, the matches are longer.
“I hope he doesn’t play Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and also Rome, because then it’s too much for my taste.
“He has to take a break because he’s only human and he’s also tired sometimes. When you continue to play tired, the first injuries occur.
“It is very important to find the fine line between what is good in tournaments and matches and what is too much?”
Alcaraz, who is the youngest player to break into the world’s top 20 since 1993, currently has a win-loss record of 18-3 this season. He kicked off his clay campaign on Wednesday at the Monte Carlo Masters where he suffered a three set loss to Sebastian Korda in what was an error-stricken performance. Korda is another promising young player who has reached the fourth round of the French Open on his debut in 2020 and again in 2021.
Reflecting on his latest match, Alcaraz has dismissed that it was linked to him feeling tired. Instead, he stated that he believes he is mentally ready to play ‘long and tough matches’ on the Tour. Although he concedes he needs to be ‘more ready’ in order to play on clay.
“I’m a bit disappointed with myself. I had a lot of chances to be up in the match and close to winning but these losses sometimes are good to live,” he said during his press conference.
“You have to play matches. But I didn’t think about the expectations that the people have for me. I just focused on me and what I have to do. You have to play on clay court more matches.”
Alcaraz will return to action next week at the Barcelona Open. The tournament is where he played his first ATP qualifying draw back in 2019.
