Was Carlos Alcaraz ‘too honest’ with Jack Draper confession? – Andy Roddick weighs in
Andy Roddick has questioned whether Carlos Alcaraz was “too honest” with the comments he made after his loss to Jack Draper in Indian Wells.
Alcaraz delivered an erratic performance as he was beaten 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 by Draper in the semi-finals at the Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells last week.
The four-time Grand Slam champion was badly out of sorts in the first set before regrouping and capitalising on a dip from Draper to take the second in dominant fashion.
The 21-year-old Spanish star struggled again for much of the decider and was unable to recover from a double break deficit against the 23-year-old Brit — who went on to lift the title.
The defeat that snapped Alcaraz’s 16-match winning streak in Indian Wells and ended his hopes of securing a third consecutive crown in the Californian desert.
In his press conference after the semi-final, Alcaraz candidly admitted he had been “nervous during the whole day” of the match as he was “worried” about facing Draper.
“I think today has been a difficult day for me. I didn’t practice well. I didn’t feel myself well on court,” the world No 3 said.
“You know, even in the warming up on court, I was missing a lot. I didn’t feel my shots. So that’s why I was talking with Juan Carlos [Ferrero] on the bike, because I was a little bit mad with myself about the way I warmed up on court.
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“As I said, I didn’t approach the match in the best way that I could. So I was nervous during the whole day, in the practice before the match, and I think that affect, you know, to the match. So that’s why I had the conversation with Juan Carlos on the bike.
“I always say that I have to be focused on myself, on my own game. I think today I was more worried about his level, his game, than myself.
“So I think that’s was a big problem to me, that I was always thinking about his weakness than my best things. So when you’re thinking more about the opponent than yourself, then it is a big problem.
“So that’s what happened today. Since the beginning of the day, since the morning, I was thinking about his game, because he’s really tough, he’s really solid, and it’s going to be a really physical match. So I was thinking all these things since the beginning of the day, and I think that a big problem.”
In a discussion with four-time major champion Kim Clijsters on his Served podcast, Roddick weighed in on Alcaraz’s honesty about his nerves.
“I was nervous all the time, but it was about executing a gameplan,” the 2003 US Open winner said. “Being ready to, like, ‘will this work, can I execute, can I do it?
“But I have another question — if you’re in Alcaraz’s camp, how honest is too honest? Like, he has this cloak of, like, people are ready, you know, he’s won four Slams, he’s 21.
“Do you want people to know that you kind of have this — maybe sometimes — mental insecurity?
“I appreciate it as someone who’s consuming the game as a fan because I think it makes it relatable. I think he’s more endearing for having shared it. But if you’re in his camp, are you going, ‘don’t tell people that, they think you’re invincible’?
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