Carlos Alcaraz has been dubbed ‘very strange’ by former world No 3 Nikolay Davydenko over his injury issues. The 20-year-old has been hampered by a string of fitness problems in the second half of 2023, hampering his ability to build on his Wimbledon triumph.
Alcaraz pulled out of a number of tournaments in the final months of the season. When he did play, the Spaniard at times seemed a shadow of the player who defeated world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final and enjoyed a dominant start to the year.
After Alcaraz withdrew from the Swiss Indoors in October, it was revealed that he was suffering from an injury to his left foot and problems in his gluteal muscles. Russian former player Davydenko points out that the Spanish training model places an emphasis on ’supernatural’ fitness, which could be harming the youngster.
“For me, Alcaraz is very strange. Why is this happening? Because in the Spanish school of tennis, there is very serious physical activity,” the 42-year-old told Championat.
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“They swing unrealistically, they have supernatural physical fitness. They focus on this more than on tennis. For them, tennis is in the background. They say that first of all you need to run and not get tired, and then play on the other side of the court.
“The body cannot withstand these overloads. Of course, at 20 years old it is too early to get your first injuries. Then others will appear – it goes in a chain. Therefore, he will shoot somewhere, but somewhere he may withdraw from the tournament because something happened.”
Alcaraz capped an excellent first half of the year by defeating veteran Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. It was his second Grand Slam success, following on from the US Open the year before.
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However, his form dipped after the summer and he failed to win a tournament after lifting his maiden Wimbledon title. Alcaraz lost his spot at the top of the world rankings to Djokovic, finishing the year as the world No 2.
Alcaraz and Djokovic strengthened their rivalry in a series of tense matches throughout the year. The Serb believes his Wimbledon nemesis is the ‘most complete’ star on the tour, in a boost to Alcaraz’s chances of a revival in 2024.
“He (Alcaraz) is as complete of a player as I have seen in ages,” Djokovic told CBS. “It’s a great opportunity for me to reinvent myself and really push harder than I ever did.”
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