Andrea Petkovic acknowledges Carlos Alcaraz is one of the very best in the game but the former world No. 9 adds that there is one big issue in the 21-year-old’s game and that’s not having a Plan B when things go south on the court.
While the Spaniard has been one of the most successful players over the last three seasons, it is not a secret that he has had some struggles with inconsistency.
One of the most notable cases of that happened during the 2023 season, when Alcaraz won six out of his first 10 tournaments played. But after winning 2023 Wimbledon, he didn’t win a title until this year’s Indian Wells Masters in March.
When Alcaraz is on and feeling his game, there is no player he can’t beat on any given day and actually has a winning record against the majority of the current top players.
However, there have also matches on the biggest stage in which his main tactic didn’t work and he failed to respond and make adjustments.
And when that happens, he can get dominated as it happened in the 2023 Australian Open quarterfinal when Alexander Zverev ousted him 6-1 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-4.
Petkovic: Alcaraz doesn’t have a Plan B, when he is bad, he is horrendous
“The one quibble I have with Carlos is what the others don’t have, Zverev doesn’t have, even Taylor doesn’t have, Jannik definitely doesn’t have, Novak definitely doesn’t have. When Carlos is bad, he is (expletive) horrendous. He doesn’t have a plan B,” the 2014 French Open semifinalist said on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
Alcaraz© X Atp Tour
In his last three tournaments of 2024, Alcaraz didn’t do that well as he suffered shock defeats to Tomas Machac in Shanghau and also got upset by Ugo Humbert in Paris.
At the ATP Finals, the four-time Grand Slam winner didn’t do any better after going 1-2 in the group stage and fialing to make the semifinal.
As it stands now, Alcaraz’s first tournament of the 2025 season will be the Australian Open.
Tennis World USA