Carlos Alcaraz is “a thousand miles away” from matching Rafael Nadal’s mental toughness in a scathing verdict delivered after his Australian Open quarter-final defeat last week.
World No 3 Alcaraz was beaten 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 by Novak Djokovic in Melbourne, pushing back his quest to complete the Career Grand Slam until at least 2026.
Djokovic was struggling physically during the match and, despite his win, eventually retired due to a hamstring injury in his semi-final versus Alexander Zverev.
In the aftermath of his defeat, Alcaraz was criticised by some for failing to take advantage of his opponent’s obvious struggles.
The latest to do so is Italian tennis great Paolo Bertolucci, speaking on Sky Sports Italia.
Bertolucci, a former world No 12 and a Davis Cup champion, claimed that Alcaraz should have won the match – and was lacking the mental toughness of his idol Nadal.
“Alcaraz is sleeveless like Nadal, he plays differently, but he is a thousand miles away from Rafa in his head,” said Bertolucci.
“He should have gone 2-1 in the match with Nole and probably would have brought the match home.”
Adding to Bertolucci’s criticism of Alcaraz was Adriano Panatta.
The former world No 4 and 1976 French Open champion said that Alcaraz “must be at a level” where he can no longer lose to Djokovic at Grand Slam level.
“Mentally he [Djokovic] crushes anyone, the other one took the bait with all his boots,” added Panatta. “Novak is a great champion, phenomenal, nice or unpleasant, it’s subjective.