PETE ZIEBRON
All of the sudden, Carlos Alcaraz looks human. In back to back weeks, he lost in the Final - today in Umag and last week in Hamburg.
Earlier this year, the young Spaniard has collected two Masters 1000 titles, as well as a 500 and a 250. En route to winning in Madrid, he defeated: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.
One might seriously question the fact that Alcaraz is playing clay tournaments in Europe concurrent to hard court events being contested in the United States. Roland Garros concluded nearly two months ago, yet here is Alcaraz playing on clay. Sure, he won the Miami Masters and reached the semis at Indian Wells, so he can compete and win on hard courts.
Nick Kyrgios and a slew of Aussies and played Atlanta this week and will then proceed to Washington this week to properly prepare for the US Open. Alcaraz and his team must feel that playing the Masters events in Canada and Cincinnati will be enough to get ready for the final major of the year. The world #5 lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open, in the quarters at Roland Garros and in the 4th round at Wimbledon. Best of five is certainly a different beast compared to playing and winning five rounds of a best of three Masters event.
Last week, Alcaraz cruised into the Final and was fortunate to win the second set against Italian Lorenzo Musetti before dropping the deciding set 4-6. in Hamburg. Today in Umag, another Italian, Jannik Sinner, who defeated Alcaraz at Wimbledon, lost just two games in the final two sets to win 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1 to win his first title on clay. Alcaraz, yet again had luck on his side when he won the opening set.
Following the match and before the trophy presentation, Alcaraz sat in his chair and looked flummoxed, wondering why he again was not able to win a final. Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero will have some work to do between now and Canada.