Barbara Schett says Carlos Alcaraz needs to be a given 'a bit of a break' from the lofty expectations on him
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Updated 24/08/2022 at 10:00 GMT
Carlos Alcaraz "has a great shot to go very deep" at the US Open, believes Eurosport's Barbara Schett. Alcaraz, still only 19, has won two Masters 1000 events this year but is yet to go past the quarter-finals in a slam. However, Schett feels that could change in New York, and that Alcaraz's up-and-down form in the lead-up shouldn't mean he is written off.
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Carlos Alcaraz "cannot be written off" despite his indifferent form in the run-up the US Open, believes Barbara Schett.
Alcaraz went out of the Canadian Open at the last-32 stage, losing to Tommy Paul and later admitting he "couldn't deal with the pressure",
He was then unable to progress beyond the last eight in Cincinnati, where was beaten by Britain's Cameron Norrie.
Nevertheless, the 19-year-old Spaniard has still had a phenomenal year given his age and experience, winning two Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid, whilst also triumphing at two other ATP tournaments in Rio and Barcelona.
That has put Alcaraz as the provisional third seed for the upcoming final major of the year in New York, and Eurosport's Schett is talking up his chances.
"If somebody can do it Alcaraz can," Schett said.
"He still hasn't lost too many matches this year [nine]. I wouldn't read too much into those last couple of tournaments [in Montreal and Cincinnati].
"So he's had a phenomenal year.
"I think we have to give him a bit of a break. He's so young, he's still learning, he's still evolving.
"I think over the course of five sets, for example, he's going to be very tricky to play against because he has so much energy.
"I think he's learned so much at the Grand Slam events - he probably wanted it a little bit too much this year at the Grand Slams.
"You cannot write him off just yet just because he had a couple of early-round losses.
"Alcaraz is one of the players nobody wants to play against in the early rounds at the US Open and he's able to beat pretty much everyone.
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"Last year was the first big breakthrough for him at the US Open. He couldn't do it physically, now he's a different player, especially physically and it'll be really interesting to see how he goes.
"He definitely has a great shot to go very deep in the tournament."
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