Google News Carlos Alcaraz makes honest admission after shock loss to lucky loser at Astana Open
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 19698
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz admitted that David Goffin took it to him and that he simply didn't know to react. On Tuesday, first-seeded Alcaraz crashed out of the Astana Open as lucky loser Goffin stunned the Spaniard 7-5 6-3.
Alcaraz, 19, was playing his first ATP match as the new world No. 1. Goffin, 31, used all of his experience on Tuesday to spoil Alcaraz's debut in Nur-Sultan and clinch his biggest victory of the season. “He has played great matches, a lot of matches.
He has a lot of experience as well. He played better than me, really, really aggressive,” Alcaraz said, per the ATP website. “I couldn’t handle that pressure that he was pushing on me and of course it’s something that I have to learn and take lessons from this match”.
Alcaraz was playing his first tournament since the US Open
Alcaraz started the match with an early break and a 2-1 lead before Goffin responded with back-to-back breaks to overtake the lead and go 5-2 up. Alcaraz got the break back and tied the set to five games apiece, but then failed to serve out for a tie-break in the 12th game.
After winning the first set, Goffin broke Alcaraz twice in the second set to complete a two-set win. “It was a tough match as you can see. He was playing really, really well,” Alcaraz said. “Coming back to competition is never easy.
He played two matches here on this court. It’s not easy to get used to, it’s really, really slow. It was really tough on me, for my confidence. I tried to get used to this court so quickly, but I couldn’t and he was better than me in this match”.