“I’m trying to work in every practice, in every tournament that I go [to], learn from the things that probably I was not doing great. For example, the last match against Jannik I said that I [was] out of my mind in the second set so this is something that I have to work on I’m trying not to happen the next time. I want to be the best so I have to practice mentally to be strong enough to play at the same level and don’t have up-and-downs.”
Asked whether he found the mental side tough to control, he responded: “It’s difficult to control yourself most of the time. So it’s for me, difficult yeah.” But Alcaraz has already learned from his mistakes and managed to hang in there against Evans, coming back from a break down in both sets. The world No 2 will now hope to keep his momentum and his mental toughness going into his next match as he takes on Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in the quarter-final.
With the Shanghai Masters being staged for the first time since 2019, Alcaraz is making his debut at the tournament and is bidding to pick up the title on his first attempt. His mental toughness will be key to lifting the trophy and having a strong end to the season as he eyes the year-end No 1 ranking.
