Carlos Alcaraz needs to ‘take a break’ says Grand Slam legend

Boris Becker says that the teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz must not play every clay court tournament before the French Open in order to avoid risking injury. 

The 18-year-old Spaniard has been in red hot form this season, rising through the rankings following record-breaking title wins at both the Rio Open in February and at the Miami Open last month.

However, he suffered a blow to his French Open preparations by losing in the second round to America’s Sebastian Korda 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 at the Monte Carlo Masters this week.

Following the defeat, Becker discussed Alacaraz’s clay court season, suggesting that the man from Murcia should not ”believe his own hype” and that he should take a break at some point from the hectic clay court swing.

“He must not believe his own hype now. He’s not the best yet. He is the high-flyer of the scene. The way he played this year, there was only one player who was better and he is also from Spain. But the clay court season is exhausting, the matches are longer.”

“I hope he doesn’t play Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and also Rome, because then it’s too much for my taste. He has to take a break because he’s only human and he’s also tired sometimes. When you continue to play tired, the first injuries occur. It is very important to find the fine line between what is good in tournaments and matches and what is too much?”

However Carlos Alcaraz stated that despite the disappointing defeat, he was not going to be taking a break anytime soon.

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