(Reuters) – Carlos Alcaraz’s hopes of capturing a third successive Indian Wells title went up in smoke on Saturday and the Spaniard said his inability to tame his nerves was more of a disappointment than the stunning semi-final defeat by Jack Draper.
The 21-year-old was gunning for a rare “three-peat” in the California desert tournament, a feat achieved by Roger Federer (2004-06) and Novak Djokovic (2014-16), but he crashed 6-1 0-6 6-4 against Draper.
“Obviously I wanted to win the third in a row, but I can’t pretend to win every match. I’m not as upset about not getting the third one in a row,” Alcaraz told reporters.
“I’m upset about myself, about the way that I approached the match, the way that I felt during the whole day, that I couldn’t calm down myself.
“It was probably one of the worst sets I’ve played in my whole career, the first set. That means how nervous I was before the match, during the whole day. It’s really disappointing.”
Alcaraz said he was too focused on Draper’s game and that led to a second defeat by the Briton in five meetings.
“When you’re thinking more about the opponent than yourself, then it’s a big problem … he’s really tough, really solid, and it was going to be a really physical match,” he added
The four-times Grand Slam champion said he would learn from the defeat and turn his focus on the Miami Open.
“I consider myself a person who learns from failures, from losses,” added Alcaraz.
“The last time I lost here was the semi-finals (in 2022), and after (that) I won Miami, so I’ll go for it. I’ll learn from that match and make the most in Miami.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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