Alcaraz and Spain call it a day in Nice: “Really disappointed not to have won the mixed doubles”

Beaten by the pairing of Donna Vekic and Borna Coric, Carlos Alcaraz’s Spain are out of the Hopman Cup. The world No 1 lost both his mixed doubles matches

Carlos Alcaraz and Rebeka Masarova at the Hopman Cup (Zuma/Panoramic)

Lucas Morlier

July 23, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz, the winner of Wimbledon less than a week ago, had almost no sporting aims when it came to the Hopman Cup. But to hear him repeat that he wants to win every tournament he plays in, you have to wonder if the Spaniard is disappointed.

And he is. In a press conference after the mixed doubles loss to Croatia (with Rebeka Masarova), he couldn’t hide his disappointment. Spain are eliminated after two defeats in the competition.

“Honestly, I wanted to win both doubles. I always want to win the tournaments I play. We only play [these] tournaments once a year. I’m really disappointed not to have won the mixed doubles,” said Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé, who had already lost in the same event the day before to Belgium’s pairing of David Goffin and Elise Mertens.

Spain against Belgium in the mixed doubles at the Hopman Cup (Zuma/Panoramic)

Overcoming the bitterness of defeat, Alcaraz recalled how much he had enjoyed the Hopman Cup experience: “It was cool. It’s nice to have the experience of playing mixed doubles and mixed tournaments. It was also nice to share this event with Rebeka. It was really cool. We’re not really used to playing this kind of tournament.” He was satisfied and praised the crowd: “I felt the energy, I felt the love, it was incredible. I enjoyed playing here from day one. I’m going to keep it in my head.”

The buzz around him over the two days was impressive. Security barriers were installed before his first match against David Goffin. These had still not been removed by the end of his last match, at around 10.45pm on Saturday.

In singles, everything is going well for Carlitos

Although tired, as he admitted on his arrival in Nice, the Wimbledon winner showed his superiority in singles, whatever the context. A super tiebreak winner over David Goffin and then Borna Coric, Alcaraz hadn’t touched a racquet since his last exchanges with Novak Djokovic a week earlier.

“It was really good for me to be back on clay. It’s a surface I appreciate and enjoy playing tennis on. I arrived tired from Wimbledon and had very little time to adapt to the surface. I won those two matches against two fantastic players, so it was great for me,” he enthused.

Next step for Carlos Alcaraz: rest and no tournaments for two weeks. The Spaniard will be in Toronto (August 7-13), where he lost in the second round last year to Tommy Paul. The challenge will be considerable: he has had the least success at the Masters 1000 (one attempt), along with Monte-Carlo.