Carlos Alcaraz has taken full responsibility for his second round exit to David Goffin at the Miami Open.
The Spaniard’s inconsistent season continues after a 5-7 6-4 6-3 defeat to the Belgian in his first match in Florida.
After a run to the semi-finals in Indian Wells, there was hope that Alcaraz could build on that tournament and seize the opportunity to close the gap on Jannik Sinner at the top of the rankings.
However, that has failed to happen as the Spaniard wasn’t good enough against Goffin who will move on to play Brandon Nakashima.
Speaking after the match Alcaraz made no excuses for the defeat as he says he simply wasn’t good enough, “It was a poor level from me,” Alcaraz claimed to the ATP website.
“I just wanted to play better. After the first set, I thought I was going to be better. He played well, he played good tennis. My level didn’t increase. I think his level after the first set increased a little bit. I didn’t play well, physically I didn’t feel well. When you don’t have the confidence of your level physically, I think it’s really tough to maintain good tennis.
“I didn’t feel well in my legs. I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t sick. I was feeling perfectly before the match. I felt good, a little bit nervous, which is normal before the match. But nothing more than that. I just felt ready, I thought that I was going to play really good tennis. It didn’t happen.”
This loss was Alcaraz’s first defeat of the season to a player outside of the world’s top 30, having won his previous nine matches.
Next for Alcaraz will be the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters which starts on the 7th of April as he begins the road to his Roland Garros title defence.
