Carlos Alcaraz shares surprise player he finds ‘impossible to beat’ in practice
Carlos Alcaraz shared which player he found “unplayable” during a practice session on Sunday before the Vienna Open.
On Tuesday, world No. 3 Alcaraz beat Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6(5), setting up a second-round match against either local favorite Jurij Rodionov or last week’s Almaty finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Although he started the first set a break behind, Alcaraz showed some of his best tennis to get past Khachanov—a much better performance than his practice session with world No. 22 Andrey Rublev on Sunday.
When asked about that practice, where Rublev won 6-2, Alcaraz said that even though he was “playing good,” Rublev was just too strong to handle.
“Sometimes it’s hard to face the reality,” he explained. “During practice with Rublev, I lost 6-2, but I felt I was playing well. He was just unplayable—ripping forehands and hitting hard backhands. I couldn’t really be aggressive at all.
“That made me a bit unhappy when I left the court, but I also knew I was doing the right things.”
Alcaraz chose to focus on the positive parts of his game instead of the score. He added, “In tennis, sometimes you play against someone who doesn’t let you play. But that day, I left the court thinking about what I did well. I learned a lot from it.”
Alcaraz’s season stopped suddenly in April because of a wrist injury, forcing him to miss the Barcelona Open. He came back at the US Open in late August but lost in a tough five-set quarter-final against Ben Shelton.
His results since have been mixed, with a title win in Tokyo but a surprise loss to Zizou Bergs in Shanghai.
Talking about his recovery, Alcaraz said, “I’m on the right path. I’m happy with what I’ve been doing lately. Today’s match showed I played great tennis.
“What I really want is to get back to the consistency I had earlier this year—playing well and finding solutions in every match. I’m working on that, and I think I’m going in the right direction. Where exactly I’m at, I’m not sure, but I’m on my way.”