Alcaraz 2023 vs Alcaraz 2022 – Spaniard says concentration and focus make him better than before

In 2022 Carlos Alcaraz surged to the top of the sport, winning his first major and becoming the youngest player and first teenager to ever hold the ATP’s No 1 ranking.

For good measure the Spaniard took home the ATP’s prestigious year-end No 1 ranking, becoming the youngest player to ever achieve that feat as well.

The bar has been set ridiculously high for the wildly talented Spaniard, and yet he has managed to continue on his impressive trajectory (despite a few injury setbacks) in 2023, winning 29 of 31 matches, including 19 of 20 on clay, and clinching a fourth Masters 1000 title on Sunday in Madrid.

Alcaraz – concentration is the difference

It’s hard to imagine Alcaraz being any better than he was in 2022, but when he was asked by a reporter how he improved in 2023, he did not hesitate.

Alcaraz says he is a more focused and clear-headed player these days.

“I’m gonna say just the concentration is everything,” he said. “To stay focused all the time, to not being up and down on the match.”

The Spaniard believes that his focus has allowed him to do a better job of reading his opponent and understanding what he needs to do in any situation that arises on the match court.

“I read the match better than the Carlitos last year, and I would say that’s the most important thing for me, to play at the same level, to be in the same concentration all the match, and have a good physical feeling, you know.

“For me, that was the key and the difference from the Carlitos last year.”

Ferrero – he’s still working, and always will be

To be one of the greats of the game, Alcaraz will have to find new ways to improve on a consistent basis. This is a point that gets hammered home by his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, and is based on Rafael Nadal’s uncanny ability to continue to evolve his tennis over the course of a legendary 20-year career.

“Still working, really,” Ferrero said in an exclusive with Tennis Majors this spring. “He’s 19. He’s playing at the top level but obviously he’s not 100 percent. A tennis player has to improve things all his life and Carlos has to be able to do that for his career.”

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Exclusive interview with Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero: “Carlos and I are almost the same person, we think the same way”

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