Carlos Alcaraz always plays tennis with such a passion and a smile on his face.
He always aims to entertain and play to the vest of his ability while winning the biggest titles in the sport.
The Spaniard has already achieved so much at just 21 years of age, including winning four Grand Slams and becoming the World number one.
But with all the success and enjoyment he gets from playing tennis, there is something that Carlos Alcaraz is fearful of.
Carlos Alcaraz says what he is ‘fearful’ of happening to him in tennis
Alcaraz is one of the fearless players when he steps on court for a match.
The World number two’s aggressive shotmaking combined with his flair and finesse make him a very difficult player to beat.
But during his Netflix series titled ‘Carlos Alcaraz: My Way’, for his success and passion for tennis Alcaraz expressed a fear of potentially becoming disillusioned with the game due to the gruelling and demanding schedule, which takes a toll on the players both physically and mentally.
“In a lot of interviews people ask me what is your biggest fear,” Alcaraz said. “Honestly I really didn’t know, I really wasn’t sure what to say.
“Right now my biggest fear of all is ending up seeing tennis as an obligation. Sometimes I feel like I am enslaved to tennis and that causes anxiety, frustration, doubts.
“I ask myself, do I really want this? Do I really want to live my life with that pressure and to keep going?”
How do Carlos Alcaraz’s team help him manage the gruelling ATP schedule?
It is important that lawyers, especially young players, have a solid team to help them manage the pressures and challenges of playing on the ATP Tour.
There are many tournaments to play and sometimes with little time in between events, it can be tough on the players, as Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero alluded to.
“The circuit is very demanding,” he said. “You play back to back tournaments and you have to make sure you meet all your responsibilities if you truly want to make it.”
During the documentary Alcaraz’s father Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez explained what the team did at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters to ensure he did not get overwhelmed with training and preparing for the event.
“For Carlos it stops being a worthwhile goal and becomes an obligation. An obligation to win, to wake up early and train,” he said.
“All it ends up feeling like is an obligation and that word, I believe it doesn’t make sense to him. At Indian Wells [2024] he looked very tense. We saw he was suffering a bit. We had to stop it.”
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