Andy Roddick suggests Carlos Alcaraz may be finding it difficult to motivate himself to play indoors tournaments simply because the fall and indoors conditions dont really match well with the 22-year-olds electrifying personality.
Since winning the US Open, Alcaraz has had some surprising defeats. The first came at the at the Laver Cup, where Taylor Fritz stunned the six-time Grand Slam champion 6-3 6-2. Last week, the world No. 2 saw his Paris Masters campaign end after only one match and a shock 6-4 3-6 4-6 loss to Cameron Norrie. However, it should be noted that the Spaniard won Tokyo in mid-October.
On the other side, Sinner has been on a tear since the US Open, making it all the way in Beijing, Vienna and Paris. And he has replaced Alcaraz at the world No. 1 spot heading into the ATP Finals.
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Roddick details why the fall/indoors conditions may be posing a problem to Alcarazs
He seems to have a harder time finishing the year strong. Hes a guy who relies on electricity from the crowd he likes the atmosphere, the show, being an entertainer. And then you get to this part of the season where youre outside for like four minutes of daylight a day. You walk into the venue and its light, and then you leave and its dark at 4:15. Hopefully, I say this correctly, but it feels like Sinner is maybe better suited personality-wise to go in, get the job done, leave whereas Carlos maybe needs to feel a bit more inspired. Maybe thats a reach, but I dont think its nothing, Roddick said on his podcast.
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Roddicks take makes sense as it is well-documented how much Alcaraz loves to play in packed stadiums and engage with the crowd.
It will be interesting to see how Alcaraz does in Turin and if he can win his maiden ATP Finals title.
