Casper Ruud has identified a potential flaw in
Carlos Alcaraz's game and mindset toward tournaments.
World No. 8 Ruud has had a difficult time on the ATP Tour as of late, suffering a lot of early exits. Most recently, he was defeated in the second round of the Swiss Indoors Basel by World No. 90 Dominic Stricker.
The Norwegian is also trailing 0-4 in his head-to-head against World No. Alcaraz, who also did not do as well as expected on the Asian Swing. Although he still achieved some good results, he ended up crashing out of the Shanghai Masters in the third round, putting his goal of usurping Novak Djokovic to become the year-end No. 1 further out of reach.
Ruud gives insight into Alcaraz flaw
Ruud recently shared his thoughts on Alcaraz, suggesting that the young tennis star sometimes tries too hard.
"Obviously, he plays so aggressive and so great, but, sometimes, it seems like he might beat himself a little. He goes for almost too much, at least in my eyes," he said.
However, the 24-year-old was quick to praise the player, saying that he has great respect for him.
"I am not going to criticize him any more than this, because he's a great player. But sometimes when you hit all these crazy shots, it's kind of tempting to go for an even crazier one. But I think he's understood that most matches won’t be won by playing crazy shot after crazy shot. It’s more about stability," he added.
This is not the first time that Alcaraz's shots have been called "crazy", as Alex Molcan also previously highlighted his aggressive style of play.
"He’s playing crazy aggressive. He’s fit, he runs, he catches everything. Also Djokovic, he is also running incredibly. But they are different players," he said.
