Carlos Alcaraz faced criticism for his performance in the first round of Wimbledon against Fabio Fognini.
The world number two was almost the victim of one of the most shocking upsets in Wimbledon history. 38-year-old Fognini took him to five sets on Centre Court in a four and a half hour war.
In the sweltering Wimbledon heat, Alcaraz regathered himself to win the final set 6-1. He was visibly relieved, but despite winning, could not escape the reality that his performance was well under par.
Carlos Alcaraz’s fourth set was ‘some of the worst tennis I’ve seen from a professional’, says tennis journalist
Winning the third set 7-5, Alcaraz looked to have claimed control of the match to see it out in four sets. But in a shocking turn of events, he lost the fourth decisively 6-2, needing a fifth-set showdown to make it through his opening match.
Alcaraz, who looks to break Rafael Nadal’s record for most Wimbledon titles by a Spaniard with three, looked second best by a country mile in the fourth set, leading to criticism from The Tennis Podcast’s Catherine Whitaker.
She said, “The end of that fourth set was some of the worst tennis I’ve ever seen from a professional tennis player. It was extraordinarily bad.”
Alcaraz’s performance led Whitaker to speculate whether the 22-year-old was 100% healthy in the match.
She said, “He looked spacey for the whole match, for me. He looked spaced out. He was getting the ice towel every sit-down. Whatever you want to call it, he wasn’t physically all there today.”
Wimbledon saw temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius on opening day, smashing the previous record of 29.3 degrees set in 2001. Perhaps the heat got to Alcaraz during the marathon match.
Whitaker continued, “He just didn’t know where Fognini’s ball was going. Again, I think that’s partly because he was so spaced out that he just seemed totally befuddled.”
Whatever the issue with the five-time Grand Slam winner, it needs to be resolved quickly. Alcaraz’s second round match against Britain’s Oliver Tarvet is on Wednesday.
Carlos Alcaraz admits to nerves in Wimbledon opener, ‘I felt like it was my first time’
In his post-match press conference, Alcaraz, who is a two-time Wimbledon winner, shockingly admitted to nerves during his first-round match with Fognini.
He said, “I felt like it was my first time at Wimbledon. It’s a different tournament. No matter my winning streak, my level on grass, or my preparation, Wimbledon is different.
“At the beginning, I was very nervous,” Alcaraz admitted. “It’s a real honour to open play on Centre Court, so it felt like a first time. I tried to manage my nerves as best as I could, but I struggled.”
Nerves would go some way to explaining his 62 unforced errors in the match, which left him under pressure throughout.
But rather than talk about his own struggles, the ever-classy Alcaraz gave full credit to Fognini, who was playing in his final ever match at SW19.
“I knew from the start that playing Fabio would be complicated. I know it’s his last year, his final tournaments. But that doesn’t matter because he has immense talent,” he said.
“In every match, he’s capable of playing his best tennis, and that was the case today.”
What is most important, of course, is that he won. There was no major upset, there was no early exit, and there is no loss on Alcaraz’s record which he will think about for the rest of his career (yet).
Alcaraz has only been beaten twice at Wimbledon, and he’s still alive in 2025.