Carlos Alcaraz’s brain still broken after Novak Djokovic loss

Rennae Stubs has an explanation for Carlos Alcaraz’s early loss at the Cincinnati Masters, with the Spaniard losing his cool like never before. The former five-time Grand Slam doubles champion believes the 21-year-old’s “brain is still broken” after Novak Djokovic stopped him from winning an Olympic gold medal.

Shortly after Djokovic defeated Alcaraz 7-6 (3) 7-6 (2) in an absolute thriller of an Olympic final in Paris that lasted two hours and 50 minutes, the 21-year-old burst into tears. The Spanish tennis star later admitted he felt “like I had let my people down.”

When Alcaraz returned to action 10 days ago in Cincinnati, things didn’t go well, as Gael Monfils defeated him 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-4. But Alcaraz’s loss in his Cincinnati Masters opener was somehow not the most shocking thing about that match, as many were more interested in the four-time Grand Slam champion smashing his racket. Anyone who follows tennis knows that Alcaraz doesn’t easily explode and collapse on court, especially not in aggressive form.

Stubbs, who was part of Serena Williams’ team for the 2022 US Open, believes the events in Cincinnati could be directly linked to the Spaniard’s failure to become Olympic champion.

“It was such an anomaly to see Carlos Alcaraz go crazy like that (in Cincinnati). Our sweet little baby Carlitos, who is literally the nicest man. I did a Q&A with all the players in Cincinnati and the question I asked every player was, ‘Who is the happiest, most loved person in the locker room?’ and they all said Frances Tiafoe or Carlos Alcaraz,” Stubbs said on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.

“His brain is still broken from losing the gold medal. I think he’s played a lot of tennis and he’s got a lot of pressure on his shoulders right now. I think he’s tired right now. Everyone who just played in the Olympics and played in Cincinnati was just mentally and physically exhausted.”

Alcaraz spoke out about Djokovic’s loss in the Olympic final at the US Open

Speaking to reporters at the US Open, Alcaraz was asked to reflect on his last loss at the Summer Olympics and whether it was “the lowest point he felt after a defeat.”

Alcaraz admitted that it was not easy to accept, because you cannot attend the Olympic Games every year and there are no guarantees that he will ever compete for a gold medal again.

“Well, that was one of the most important finals of my career, of my life. I know that the Olympics are every four years, so I don’t know if I will have another chance to win the gold. I will definitely fight for it, the next Olympics,” Alcaraz said.

“But it was a tough moment for me to deal with, you know, losing the gold medal in a really close match where I had chances. But you know, I had a really good player in front of me who was fighting for the same thing as me, and he deserved it. So a few days after the Olympics it was, ‘Okay, I realized I won the silver medal, it was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of.’

“You know, I’m trying to move on, trying to learn from this competition. Just the next finals or the next big competitions of my career, I’m going to approach them in a different way or a better way than I did at the Olympics. Well, I realize it was an important moment in my life.”

Alcaraz had a scare just before the start of the US Open

On Saturday, Alcaraz was forced to end his training early due to an ankle injury. But when asked later about it, the world No. 3 insisted it was just a precaution and that he was not worried that his participation in Flushing Meadows was in jeopardy.

“Well, I mean, I wasn’t worried at all about my participation in the US Open. Of course I was angry because I don’t want to stop training just to respect Cerundolo,” Alcaraz said.

At the start of the week, Alcaraz kicks off his fourth US Open campaign with an opponent: qualifier Li Tu, ranked 189th in the world and making his main-draw debut in Flushing Meadows.

There is no doubt that Alcaraz is the big favorite, and anything other than a regular win would be a surprise.