Carlos Alcaraz ‘couldn’t handle pressure’ from Goffin in upset loss

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Carlos Alcaraz has reacted after suffering a shock-first round defeat at the Astana Open. The 19-year-old was playing his first tour match becoming the world No 1 and saw his remarkable 62-match streak of winning at least one set come to an end as David Goffin defeated him 7-5 6-3.

Alcaraz was the top seed at this week’s Astana Open – his first tour event since winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open. The Spaniard was set to face last week’s Sofia Open finalist Holger Rune in the first round but the world No 26 withdrew, leaving lucky loser Goffin to take his place.

But the former world No 7 proved to be a worthy contender despite losing in the qualifying just two days ago as he earned his third career win over a world No 1 with a 7-5 6-3 victory in the opening round of the ATP 500 tournament. Alcaraz has now spoken following the defeat and admitted the Belgian put too much pressure on him.

“It was a tough game. David played wonderfully,” the six-time title winner said of Goffin. “Coming back to the competition [after losing in qualifying] is never easy.” While Alcaraz was impressed by the world No 66 for bouncing back from his qualifying defeat, he noted that his opponent also already had experience on the court.

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The US Open champion continued: “He has already played two games on this court, which is not the easiest to get used to. It is very slow and it has been complicated. He played very aggressively and I couldn’t handle the pressure he put on me. It’s something I have to learn from, I have to take note of the lessons from this match.”

Alcaraz has previously admitted to being unable to handle the pressure during his first-round loss to Tommy Paul at the Canadian Masters in the summer. The Spaniard was the second seed and admitted he found it tough to deal with being ranked so high at such a big tournament.

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“I felt the pressure to be number two [seed] in a tournament like this, No 4 in the world. It was the first time I felt that pressure – and I couldn’t handle it,” he said after blowing a match point to crash out in the first round.

But he more than bounced back at the US Open, winning his first Grand Slam title and becoming the youngest world No 1 in ATP history as a result. Alcaraz has won just one match since, losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Davis Cup before earning a win for Spain over Soon-woo Kwon, but lost his first tour match in Astana.

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