Carlos Alcaraz urged to ‘stay out of the spotlight’ if he wants to rediscover his motivation
Carlos Alcaraz has been told there is no need to panic following his shock early exit from the Miami Open with Italian legend Paolo Bertolucci urging him to take some time off.
World No 1 Alcaraz started the 2026 season with a 17-match winning run as he completed his Career Grand Slam with his Australian Open title run and followed it up with the Qatar Open trophy.
But his streak was ended by Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final of the Indian Wells Open as the Russian claimed a straight-set win before the seven-time Grand Slam winner appeared to return to form with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Joao Fonseca in his opening match in Miami.
But the wheels came off against Sebastian Korda in the third round as he struggled during the first set and then told his team he “wanted to go home”. Although he won the second set, world No 36 Korda secured a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Alcaraz mentioned the fact that his opponents always seem to raise their game when they face him in several press conferences during the Sunshine Double and former world No 12 Bertolucci says the Spaniard should get used to it.
In his La Gazzetta dello Sport column, he wrote: “Carlos sometimes gets flustered by the high standard his opponent manages to maintain throughout the match, but he should realise that this is the burden the best players have to bear.
“You have to step onto the court with humility and the awareness that the match doesn’t always go your way just because of your reputation.
“With this win, a player like Korda is set for the whole year; he can say he’s beaten the world number one.”
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Alcaraz will next be in action at the Monte Carlo Masters with the tournament starting on 6 April and Bertolucci believes the break will do the 22-year-old good, but he also feels it is important for the world No 1 to “disappear”.
The Italian added: “Right now, Alcaraz needs to recharge his batteries by staying out of the spotlight for a while to rediscover his motivation.
“The season, however, is still in its early stages and I believe he can easily bounce back; there’s no need to jump to conclusions.
“I didn’t judge Jannik Sinner either when he lost to Novak Djokovic in Australia or to Jakub Mensik in Qatar; in fact, he bounced back. The same will happen to Alcaraz, who is still only 22 and not yet fully developed.
“And besides, not everyone has the mental fortitude of the Serb [Djokovic] or Rafa Nadal: there have been players blessed with great talent, but who lacked that particular quality.”
