“I’m not afraid about the mistakes” – Alcaraz on his winning mindset in Asia

Overcoming the fear of making errors has been crucial in Alcaraz’s 13-match winning streak

Imago/Panoramic

October 10, 2024

With his win over Gael Monfils in the round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters, world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz extends his winning streak to 13 matches, dating back to his shock loss to Botic van de Zandschulp at the US Open in August.

The Spaniard has revealed a crucial aspect of his winning mindset that led him to win the China Open last week and now make the quarter-finals in Shanghai.

“With the freedom that I’m playing with, I feel like I’m not afraid about the mistakes,” declared Alcaraz after his 6-4, 7-5 victory over Monfils.

“I’m just trying to keep going all the time, keep trying if I miss it. Most of the time everything goes well, I can’t complain at all.”

Alcaraz’s mindset improving accuracy overall

Alcaraz is right – most of the time it does go well when he goes after his shots.

While he is comfortable making errors, the world No 2 has still kept his error count lower than his winners, and his opponents’ errors, in all three of his matches at the Shanghai Masters so far.

“But when things are not going as good as I wanted, or I don’t feel as good as I want, I just keep trying,” he continued explaining. “At the end everything is going to be better, so that’s what I’m pleased the most with, with my performance lately.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion is on track for a second clash against world No 1 Jannik Sinner in as many weeks, should both win their quarter-final matches on Thursday. Prevail, and he’ll extend his head-to-head lead over the Italian to 4-0 in 2024.

Ahead of the potential blockbuster semi-final in Shanghai, Alcaraz shared with the media that he is feeling fresh physically – a rare statement at this time of the year on the ATP Tour.

“I’m feeling great. Physically, I have not too many problems, so I’m feeling great,” he said. “I’m playing great tennis lately, so I have a lot of confidence to go farther in this tournament.”

“Obviously lifting the trophy in Beijing, beating Jannik, beating big guys in Beijing helped me a lot, just to come in here with a lot of confidence, just knowing what I have to do here.

“Right now I’m in the quarter-finals, so hopefully [I will] keep going. I have a lot of confidence to do a really good result here.”