Carlos Alcaraz has admitted feeling burnt out due to being exposed to a lot of commitments before he suffered a lengthy layoff due to an injury sustained in April. The Spaniard, who won the Australian Open title at the start of the year, was forced to miss more than four months from tennis because of a right wrist injury. Alcaraz returned at the US Open where he reached the quarter-finals before losing a five-set thriller to American Ben Shelton, which finished at 3.33am local time.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Due to the demanding nature of the calendar, the former world No 1 has said he plans to take longer breaks from the game in the future and skip some tournaments. "With the breaks I cannot plan them in advance," Alcaraz told Sky's Jacquie Beltrao at London's O2. "It depends how I feel mentally and physically.
"The tennis calendar has been super tight. There are more important tournaments and even more Masters 1000 events over two weeks, so it's pretty long. You have to be focused from the first day until the last, plus all the Grand Slams and everything else so it depends on how many matches I've been playing.
"If I'm injured or mentally a bit down I'm going to need those breaks. I realise it will be better to take it before getting injured." Alcaraz also revealed he felt physically and mentally exhausted before being forced to miss the French Open and Wimbledon through injury. "You expose yourself in every tournament, but not only when you go on the court, it's every time you go out for dinner, the people who stop you, the people rolling with the cameras.
Sometimes that is hard to deal with when you expose yourself at that level," the seven-time Grand Slam champion said. "Mentally, it's hard to deal with. That's why sometimes I have to stay at home alone or with my close people around.
When I can chill and be myself. With my friends and family." Alcaraz admits he needs a more balanced lifestyle knowing he could return from his intended breaks out of practice. "Yes, I could be," he added.
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