Fatigue, mind games wrecked Alcaraz USO chances

Carlos Alcaraz confessed he was unable to find his game during his shock US Open second-round loss to Botic van de Zandschulp.

The Dutchman played the match of his life to stun the third seeded reigning champion at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Alcaraz said he was naked on court with no weapons during the tennis beatdown.

“It was a fight against myself in my mind during the match. In tennis you have to be as much calm as you can just to think better in the match and try to do good things.

“Today I was playing against the opponent, and I was playing against myself. I had a lot of emotions I couldn’t control. It was a roller coaster, let’s say, in my mind. 

“So I can’t be like that if I want to think about big things, so I have to improve it. I have to learn about it.”

Alcaraz also came to the realisation that his packed-out summer schedule contributed to his loss.

“I’ve been playing a lot of matches lately, with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games.

“I took a little break after the Olympic Games. I thought it was enough. It was really helpful for me – probably it wasn’t enough.

“Probably I came here with not as much energy as I thought that I was going to (have). But, I don’t want to put that as excuse.”

He added: “Probably I’m a player that needs more days or more break coming into the important ones. I have to think about it, and I have to learn about it. That’s it.”