Carlos Alcaraz made an admission the likes of which had not been heard before.
The 21-year-old brings such joy to professional tennis and he always plays the game with a smile on his face.
In his short career Carlos Alcaraz has already achieved plenty of success and the sky is the limit for the electrifying Spaniard.
However, in the life of a professional athlete there are both highs and lows, and the World number two certainly experienced the latter at the conclusion of the North American hard court swing.
Carlos Alcaraz says he hit ‘rock bottom’ after Miami Open and considered taking a break
Alcaraz entered the North American hard court swing following a run to the Qatar Open quarter-finals.
He reached the Indian Wells semi-finals before entering the Miami Open, and his campaign at Hard Rock Stadium was over before it truly began.
David Goffin caused an upset in the opening round, leaving Alcaraz to do some soul-searching and he has since admitted it was a low point in his career.
In fact, the four-time Grand Slam champion considered taking a break from tennis after the devastating result, before deciding to head to Monte Carlo, an event Alcaraz won for the first time.
“More or less, yes, you could say that,” Alcaraz said when asked if he hit ‘rock bottom’ after the Miami Open. “It was hard for me to get into the press; I didn’t even know what I was going to say. You could say yes.”
He added: “In the end, in those situations, you think about a lot of things, and when something that hurt you is so recent, you never really put it into perspective.
“A lot of thoughts come to mind: stop, stop for a week, skip a tournament, stop for several months, keep training, take a vacation, and then train for what’s next.
“A lot of thoughts came to mind, and one of the best things I did was take a few days off and give myself the opportunity to think clearly and put things into perspective, and then decide from there.”
Carlos Alcaraz aims to continue winning run in Barcelona
Following on from his crushing Miami Open defeat, Alcaraz rebounded emphatically by starting his clay court season with a run to the Monte Carlo title.
Now Alcaraz is back on home soil at the Barcelona Open and is determined to regain the title he was unable to defend in 2024.
He won the title in 2022 and 2023, but was unable to try for a three-peat due to an arm injury sustained last season.
In 2025 Alcaraz has made a strong start to the tournament by defeating America’s Ethan Quinn 6-2, 7-6.
He rallied from 3-1 down in the second set and saved a set point before claiming it on a tiebreak. Serbia’s Laslo Djere will face Alcaraz in the next round.
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