Indian Wells, March 15 – World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz admitted he felt the pressure of always being the target after losing his first match of the season to Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters on Saturday.
Medvedev delivered a strong performance to defeat the Spaniard 6-3, 7-6(3), ending Alcaraz's impressive 16-match winning streak at the start of the season. This streak included the Australian Open title, where Alcaraz became the youngest player to complete the career Grand Slam.
Reflecting on the loss, Alcaraz acknowledged that the weight of being the player everyone wants to beat can sometimes affect him.
“What I'm just getting tired of is always having that target on my back.”
The Spaniard also praised Medvedev's level on the day, saying he was surprised by the Russian's aggressive and near-flawless display.
“I have never seen Daniil playing like this. I knew at the beginning that he was going to play aggressively, but the way he did it, it surprised me a lot. He didn't even miss a shot.”
Alcaraz explained that despite trying to adjust his approach during the match, Medvedev seemed to have answers to everything.
“I realized that I had to do something different… and he was finding every solution and every answer to my shots.”
Despite the setback, the 22-year-old remained positive about his form and insisted that his opponents must produce their best tennis to challenge him.
“I have been playing great tennis, and I just show the players and show the people that if they want to beat me, they have to play at their best level for one and a half hours, or two hours in every match.”
Alcaraz also said he preferred to view the loss as motivation rather than disappointment.
“I have to see the good things about this loss. It is about the people and the players thinking that they need to play at this level if they want to beat me.”
Looking ahead, the Spaniard said he is not focused on starting another winning streak but rather on achieving the goals he sets for himself at each tournament.
“I'm not thinking about winning or having to win. It's just about chasing my goals, chasing what I just set up before every tournament. That's my mindset.”