Carlos Alcaraz has mostly had moments of triumph on a tennis court, but it has not all been enjoyable for the young Spaniard.
Alcaraz has recently hit back at critics, who had pointed out his lack of title victories so far this year following his relatively disappointing sunshine double.
The 21-year-old will now turn his attention to the clay court season, with Alcaraz seeking his first Monte Carlo Masters victory this year.
Despite being unable to win a match at the prestigious tournament, Alcaraz has been named the best clay player by one of his ATP peers.
Although, when he was asked about a moment in his career that left him frustrated, Alcaraz actually eluded to a match he lost on clay.
Carlos Alcaraz names the most frustrating moment of his career so far
Alcaraz made his Olympics debut in Paris last year on the grounds of Roland Garros, where months before he had lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
He would play both singles, and doubles with his compatriot Rafael Nadal, who would go onto retire just a few months later.
Alcaraz suffered a heartbreaking Olympic final loss to Novak Djokovic in singles, but it was actually the doubles defeat that appeared to stand out to him when speaking to GQ España.
After reaching the doubles quarter-finals together, Alcaraz and Nadal were beaten by the American pairing of Rajeev Ram and Richard Krajicek.
This ended up being the final match of Nadal’s career on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Alcaraz bringing it up when asked about a frustrating moment in his career so far.
“Frustration is a very harsh word,” replied Alcaraz. “Tough losses, lots of them. For example, when I lost with Rafa Nadal playing doubles at the Paris Olympics last year.”
Carlos Alcaraz says why he cannot think about winning 20 majors
Alcaraz has already won four major titles at 21-years-old, with his most recent coming at Wimbledon after he defended his title against the aforementioned Djokovic in the final.
This already puts him ahead of the likes of Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Arthur Ashe and Gustavo Kuerten, and alongside Jim Courier and Guillermo Vilas.
As a result, there have been some big predictions made about how many majors Alcaraz could go onto win, with comparisons being made to the likes of Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer, who have all won 20 or more Grand Slam titles.
However, Alcaraz is trying not to focus on these big numbers and instead on winning a fifth Grand Slam.
“It’s difficult for me to talk about winning 20 Grand Slam titles right now,” said Alcaraz. “I only have four, and it would be a mistake for me to think about 20 when the next one I could add is my fifth. I’ve been happy winning these four, and I hope to continue being so in the coming years of my career.”
Alcaraz’s next chance to win a Grand Slam will be when attempting to defend his Roland Garros crown next month.
Before that, the world number three will focus on getting his maiden win at the Monte Carlo Masters in a tricky opener against Francisco Cerundolo.
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