"Made me very angry & sad" - Carlos Alcaraz on cramping against Novak Djokovic at French Open 2023, one of the 'worst' moments of his career
Carlos Alcaraz has revisited his 2023 French Open semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard got off to a dismal start in the match as he lost the first set, which was dictated by Djokovic's powerful and precise groundstrokes. Alcaraz stormed back into the contest, leveling things up by winning the second set.
However, the level of his performance dropped drastically in the subsequent sets after he started experiencing cramps. Ultimately, Alcaraz went on to lose the match 3-6, 7-5, 1-6, 1-6. Djokovic would go on to defeat Casper Ruud in the final and clinch his 23rd Grand Slam title.
Ahead of kickstarting this year's French Open campaign, Alcaraz looked back on his defeat in an interview with Marca. According to the World No. 3, the cramping he experienced was "one of the worst" moments of his career so far. The two-time Grand Slam winner also said that at the time, he had believed he could beat Djokovic and go on to win his maiden French Open title.
"I wouldn't say it was my worst moment, but it was one of the worst, without a doubt. I saw myself at a very high level of tennis. I believed that I had a chance to win that match and win Roland Garros," Alcaraz told Marca.
The World No. 3 also laid bare the emotions of anger and sadness that gripped him following the result. However, he concluded by saying that he and his team had learned valuable lessons from that experience.
"It was a magnificent match against Djokovic and the fact that it ended that way in the last two sets made me very angry and sad. I always say that there is no evil that does not come with good. I said we had to learn from that situation and I did," Alcaraz added.
Carlos Alcaraz's coach Juan Carlos Ferrero recently assessed the World No. 3's chances at the French Open
Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has orchestrated Alcaraz's mercurial rise to tennis superstardom, recently told the BBC that his compatriot's game is best-suited to hard courts. However, despite this admission, Ferrero predicted that Alcaraz would win the French Open "at least once".
"I think his (Alcaraz's) best surface right now is a hard court. He’s developed on these courts but we cannot avoid [that] the clay court is where he was born. I think he will win Roland Garros at least once. He has the game to do it," Ferrero said.
Alcaraz, currently preparing for this year's edition of the clay court Major, is set to start his campaign at Roland Garros against J.J. Wolf on Sunday, May 26.