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Carlos Alcaraz’s rocky start to the season explained by ATP legend Jimmy Connors as he offers solution to the real problem

Originally posted on FirstSportz | By Rishab Dutta | Last updated 3/2/24

Carlos Alcaraz has had a very rough start to the 2024 season. He first lost to Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal of the Australian Open and then went on to suffer a shocking defeat against Nicolas Jarry in the semifinal of the Argentina Open, a tournament that he should’ve ideally won.

Former tennis player Jimmy Connors recently opined about the situation that Alcaraz is currently in. He said that firstly, injuries have been a major reason for Alcaraz’s current dip in form and secondly, some players have just realized how to play him better now that he has been at the top of the game for about two years.

At a very young age, he (Alcaraz) has had some pretty damn good success. But, along with that comes some injuries which we know about I think some of the players have realised just how to play him or how he plays. What he did so well at the beginning kinda caught them off guard. Maybe they have caught on to that a little bit. Jimmy Connors via Advantage Connors podcast

The ATP legend suggested that Carlos Alcaraz should try to change things up a little bit and figure out something else. He added that it’s the minor changes that can offset his opponents a little and that usually does the job.

Jimmy Connors talks about Alcaraz’s immediate competitor Jannik Sinner

Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner , who recently won the 2024 Australian Open, is hands down the biggest competitor of Carlos Alcaraz among the next-gen players. Then, there is also Holger Rune, who is considered to be another potential star of the future. Jimmy Connors said that all of them have the chance of winning the French Open and the Olympics this year, alongside the usual favorite Novak Djokovic.

Connors added:

[Jannik] Sinner’s coming up and there is [Holger] Rune. A lot of these guys see that [Roger] Federer’s gone and [Rafael] Nadal might wait through the French and play the Olympics. Who knows what happens, Djoker (Novak Djokovic) still playing.

He said that all the youngsters are currently trying to fill in the vacancy that has been created at the top of the table with the aging of the Big-3 and Carlos Alcaraz will have a difficult road ahead.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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