Boris Becker came to Carlos Alcaraz’s defense after a tennis journalist and commentator said that the 21-year-old unacceptably “completely disappeared” from the court in the key moments of his Doha quarterfinal.
After losing the first set of his Qatar Open match against Jiri Lehecka, the No. 1 seed bounced back by routinely winning the second set.
Then, Alcaraz also opened a 4-2 lead in the decider and had a break point to go up by a double-break.
From that moment, there was only one player on the court – Lehecka – who won the seventh game and the next three before completing a 6-3 3-6 6-4 win to reach the Doha semifinal.
While the four-time Grand Slam champion’s loss was surprising itself, many were more stunned by the way it came.
Becker: Alcaraz’s consistency will come with age
“Alcaraz was 4-2 40-30 in the 3rd set and five minutes later he lost the match. The way he completely disappeared from the court for two half sets just cannot happen at this level. And he knows that…” tennis journalist and commentator Jose Morgado wrote on X.
Responding to it, the former six-time Grand Slam winner said: “Carlos is still very young (21), consistency will come with age …but still love his style and charisma!”
Carlos is still very young ( 21) , consistency will come with age …but still love his style and charisma! https://t.co/ScpdENUWHU
— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) February 20, 2025
Following the loss, the top-seeded Spaniard rued a missed chance on a break point at 4-2 in the third set.
Also, he added that Lehecka started playing “great tennis” after surviving the seventh game.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz stands at 11-2 in 2025, having previously exited the Australian Open in the quarterfinal and landed the Rotterdam title.
Now, the world No. 3 will turn his focus on preparing for his Indian Wells Masters title defense in early March.
Tennis World USA