It happens that Carlos Alcaraz also trembles. He had not done so in any of the rounds in this Indian Wells 2025, so fine his tennis as cold his head, to a semifinal in which he choked everything: the morning, the afternoon, the game, the rival, himself. It falls into the semifinals of the tournament he aspired to win for the third consecutive time against Jack Draper, 6-1, 0-6 and 6-4 and the Murcia has to learn, there is no other, an unfortunate day in which nothing came out. “This defeat hurts,” he summarizes.
From there, the explanation of that pain, which comes in the way of seeing himself: «I am disappointed with myself, about the way I faced the game, the way I felt throughout the day. I was not able to calm down ». It admits Alcaraz nerves, many nerves, which not only entered the body and hand at the time of the semifinal, but many hours before. And he could not reverse that feeling of not being comfortable, of not being in his rhythm, of not being him on a track that had seen him win 16 consecutive games. “It has probably been the worst set that I have played in my career,” he says about that initial 1-6 that surprised everyone, including himself. That shows how nervous I was during the game, throughout the day. I didn’t train well, I failed much, I didn’t feel the blows well. It is very disappointing ».
Thus, it was difficult to remove the tremors in the hand, the errors with the right, with the execution of the serve, with the planning of the ideas. «When you are thinking more about the rival than in yourself, there is a big problem. I could have done it better if I had focused on playing my style and without so many nerves. Draper is a very hard, very solid player, he knew he was going to be a very physical game. And I focused on looking for their weaknesses instead of looking for my strengths, ”admitted the Murcia.
Number 3 of the world, loses a handful of points in this Indian Wells, because it defended the crown last year and evaporates not only the possibility of the consecutive triplet, as Federer and Djokovic achieved, but also to approach the throne in which Jannik Sinner is sitting even if the tournaments on television are wind, sanctioned by doping. It loses 600 points and is 4,420 from the Italian already 1,035 of Zverev. But the Spanish does not lose its face, which is remembered that growth continues.
«Sometimes I forget that I am 21 years old, so I have to think that I am still young, that I have many things to improve, and this [los altibajos] It is one of them. I think I’m improving. And maturing. I think I am approaching what I want to achieve, but sometimes I still play at a very high level, and then my level lowers a lot, ” No, not getting that is not a disappointment. I am a person who learns from their mistakes. And of the defeats. The last time I lost here was in the semifinals of 2022 (against Nadal) and then won in Miami, so let’s go for it ».
Draper, more confident, safer, more constant throughout the game, will be the one who plays his first 1,000 Masters final against Holger Rune, executioner of Daniill Medvedev (7-5 and 6-4). It will be this Sunday not before 10 pm in Spain.
Before, Mirra Andreeva, the sensation of the women’s circuit and that dispatched Iga Swiatek in semifinals 7-6 (1), 1-6 and 6-3), will challenge with his 17 years the strength of number 1, Aryna Sabalenka, who overwhelmed Madison Keys, champion of the Australian Open, 6-0 and 6-1.
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