p The clock read 35 minutes before a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a hit his first winner of the night. He needed 55 minutes more to get the break that would open his account for the evening. The Spaniard bowed out of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a in the second round at the hands of a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/botic-van-de-zandschulp/v812/overview'Botic van de Zandschulp/a after two hours and 19 minutes during Thursday's late session inside a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-ashe/a063/overview'Arthur Ashe/a Stadium. /p
p Throughout the match, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings frequently pointed to his head, gesturing to his team that this essential part of his game was not running altogether smoothly. /p
p/p
p And that was exactly where the Murcia native was pointing minutes after bowing out to the Dutchman. It was honest. It was raw. It was clear and unapologetic. /p
p ldquo;Right now, I feel like Irsquo;ve taken steps backwards mentally and I donrsquo;t understand why,rdquo; admitted a serious-looking Alcaraz in Spanish as he sat before the media in the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a press conference room. ldquo;Irsquo;ve had a spectacular summer at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a. I left those tournaments saying that Irsquo;d taken a step forward mentally. Irsquo;d realised that to win big things, to win Grand Slam titles, you have to be mentally strong. /p
p ldquo;Now Irsquo;ve reached this swing and Irsquo;ve taken steps backwards, like Irsquo;m not doing well mentally, Irsquo;m not strong. I donrsquo;t know how to control myself when faced with problems and I donrsquo;t know how to handle it. I have to see exactly what happened, or whatrsquo;s going on with me. /p
p ldquo;Itrsquo;s been a very emotional summer, very demanding... Irsquo;ve had my moments of disconnection, but I think Irsquo;m still learning about myself. Maybe, as a person, I need more time. I have to get to know myself, what I need. Maybe Irsquo;m the kind of person who, with a calendar like that, demands too much of himself mentally. I have to see exactly whatrsquo;s going on.rdquo; /p
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p After the defeat, Alcaraz left for his hotel with one question in particular on his mind; what comes next? /p
p ldquo;Right now, I really donrsquo;t want to say anything because it could be completely the opposite,rdquo; responded the Spaniard. ldquo;I have to talk to the people close to me, with my team, my people, and to see what steps we will take. Obviously, I have more tournaments coming up, but I honestly donrsquo;t want to think about that at all.rdquo; /p
p The result means Alcaraz ends his 2024 Grand Slam season with a quarter-final run at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview'Australian Open/a, the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'Roland Garros/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a titles, and a second-round appearance at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a. /p
pem Editor's note: This story was translated from a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/es" target="_blank"strongATPTour.com/es/strong/a /em/p
p [NEWSLETTER FORM] /p
