Former American tennis star
Andy Roddick believes that the
current world number one
Carlos Alcaraz must be given more time to understand
how his body works.
The 20-year-old suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the
final of the Cincinnati Open (Western & Southern Open) against Serbia’s
legendary tennis player and the current world number two
Novak Djokovic with a
score of 5-7, 7-6, 7-6.
Talking after the match, Roddick expressed his opinion that
the young tennis star must be given more time to understand how his body will
react in different circumstances.
“Let's give some fair context,” he said. “Novak didn't have
his body completely figured out when he was 20 years old either, right? Like
the book [on how to play these matches] used to be let's extend rallies. What I
used to try to do when I was playing Novak would now be a suicide mission
against Novak.
“So we do need to give Carlos the appropriate amount of time
to figure out his body. I changed midway through, diet can make a huge
difference, but it's trial and error, right?.
“There's two things. We shouldn't criticize Carlos too much.
It was extremely physical, he played a long three-setter yesterday, the day
before that, the day before that, the day before that. And now that's on the
side now.”
Alcaraz became the talk of the town after winning his maiden
Wimbledon title last month after defeating Djokovic in a memorable five-set
thrilling final with a score of 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4.
The Murcia-born will be hoping to get Sunday’s
defeat out of his system as he will turn his attention towards the upcoming US
Open where he will be defending his crown this year.
Alcaraz defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud in the final of the
fourth Grand Slam last year with a score of 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–3 to lift the
title.