Sophie Grosfield
One of the greatest shocks of the US Open tournament came when world number three Carlos Alcaraz experienced a shocking loss: losing three sets to Botic van Zandschulp. Prior to the U.S Open, Alcaraz’s tennis career seemed to be advancing rapidly on an upward trajectory demonstrated by his 15 singles titles, five ATP masters 1000 titles, and four Grand Slam titles -all before the age of 21. So, how exactly did the four time major champion lose so dramatically to #74 in the world?
Many hypothesize that Alcaraz was not in a strong enough mental state to perform adequately against Zandschulp. Even Alcaraz himself admits that “I'm not well mentally, not strong. I don't know how to manage the difficult moments, and that's a problem for me.” According to Dr.Jim Afremow, author of The Champion's Mind, “mental endurance is often the key to victory in professional sports, as the physical skills of top players are generally quite comparable.” Therefore, many have been speculating that the weight of recent victories combined with the constant pressure to perform as a world renowned champion could have sapped Alcaraz’s mental strength. Because of Alcaraz’s mental handicap, Zandschulp was left at an advantage as he was able to leverage Alcaraz’s lack of focus. According to tennis expert Patrick McEnroe, “lower-ranked players thrive when they see cracks in their opponents confidence.” Without the mental pressure of defending a top rank, Zandschulp was able to approach the match with a clear mind, which may have been the key to his victory.
Not only was Alcaraz’s mental strength degrading, but just a month before the U.S Open, Alcaraz took part in the Olympics and was defeated by gold medalist Novak Djokovic. Novak ended up winning gold and Alcaraz receiving silver. Although Alcaraz publicly stated that the loss in Paris did not impact his U.S Open results, it is hard to ignore the potential toll that the intense Olympic training and defeat took on him. Many experts suggest that competing in back to back major events, especially involving high stakes matches, can lead to both physical and mental fatigue. Competing at such a high level repeatedly can lead to what is known as ‘overtraining syndrome’ which Dr.John Sullivan defines as “when athletes experience overtraining, both their physical performance and mental focus can degrade significantly due to cumulative stress.” Whether the loss to Djokovic in Paris is the sole factor in Alcaraz's mental defeat is still debatable, but the exhaustive preparation and pressure from both the Olympics and the U.S Open likely contributed to the overall mental and physical strain on Alcaraz.
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