Ruminating on his love for the game after his victory in the first round of the US Open against Australian Li Tu, Alcaraz opened up on the round of golf with Ruud and discussed how the pair used it as a chance to switch off from the heady demands of the ATP circuit.
“With Casper (Ruud), we’ve talked a lot about playing one day and here we finally made it happen,” Alcaraz said. “We talked a lot about how good golf is for us, for our minds, just to disconnect and turn off our heads. That helps us be better on court, in tournaments.”
The double Wimbledon champion added that taking to the course is a “perfect” way to recuperate after a particularly testing encounter on the court. “When I’m playing golf, I’m not thinking about my next match or my training schedule,” he said.
“I’m just enjoying the game, the fresh air, and the challenge of trying to improve my swing. It’s a perfect way to recharge mentally and physically.
“We can’t think about tennis 24 hours a day, seven days a week… you need to live your life too, be able to do other things. You need to think about other things to then perform at 100 per cent better on the court and feel better.”
Alcaraz’s recent downturn in form has taken many fans and pundits by surprise. The former champion stunned the tennis world when he was unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by the unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp as he was helpless to avoid a humiliating 6-1 7-5 6-4 defeat.
Afterwards, the young Spaniard was highly critical of himself and even claimed it was “a step backwards”. He said: “The truth is that what I feel right now is that instead of taking steps forward I have taken steps backwards in terms of my mind, and I don’t understand why.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk