Carlos Alcaraz‘s fans were delighted to see him finally back on the court after four months at the US Open’s mixed doubles event. He teamed up with Serena Williams, and the duo delivered a sensational performance in the Round of 16, defeating doubles specialists Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1. While the duo got knocked out in the next round against Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, most of the fans were still satisfied with Alcaraz’s performance. However, they were left enraged when a prominent tennis podcast raised questions about the Spaniard’s condition.

The Tennis Weekly Podcast made a social media post, stating that Alcaraz should not be playing the US Open as his serve and physical condition don’t seem to be up to the mark. The podcast is run by Joel Girling, Kim Mackenzie, and Christopher Kneebone, and it’s safe to say that their comments didn’t please Alcaraz’s fans.

“This may age badly, but based on the Mixed Doubles and how he was serving Alcaraz should not be playing the US Open,” the social media post stated.

While the World No. 3 was a little loose with his serve, he still provided a great challenge to both the teams he and Serena played against. Coming into the tournament after a long layoff due to a wrist injury, there weren’t huge expectations from Alcaraz anyway for the mixed doubles event.

Entering as the defending champion, there will be pressure on him, as an early exit would result in a loss of a huge number of ranking points. He received 2,000 points last year for winning the title. A first-round exit would be the worst-case scenario, as he will get just 10 points and will lose the rest of the 1,990.

Currently having 7,160 points in the rankings, Alcaraz’s tally will drop to 5,170 if he exits in the opening round. He will be just 530 points ahead of Felix Auger-Aliassime’s tally of 4,640 and can be surpassed if the Canadian makes a deep run in the tournament. This won’t just push Alcaraz out of the top 3 for the first time since 2022, but it will also increase the gap between him and Jannik Sinner.

But Alcaraz’s fans seem to be happy that he is finally returning to the court. It is clear that they don’t want to hear a bad word about him, and thus, they gave fitting replies to the Tennis Weekly Podcast for doubting the Spaniard’s condition.

Carlos Alcaraz’s fans come to his defense after the podcast’s comments

A fan said that the podcast shouldn’t tell Alcaraz and his team what he needs to do. “Always funny to me when people tell athletes when they should or shouldn’t be playing like they don’t have access to the best doctors in the world and a team dedicated to tell them if they are ready or not.”

Another fan felt that the podcast’s advice wasn’t valuable at all. “Omg u’re so smart to figure out he needs to work his way back into form and regain his feel and rhythm and all that.”

There was a fan who stated that Alcaraz wouldn’t have returned if he wasn’t fit. “I trust Carlos and his team would not make a mistake of coming back too soon when he waited this long. He’s going to have some rust, but there must not be any serious risk to his health or he would not play.”

A fan remarked that it is best for Alcaraz to compete after staying on the sidelines for so long. “Almost as if he was injured for months and unable to train. His wrist is healed. The best way to return to competition level is to compete.”

Finally, a fan claimed that it’s clear Alcaraz didn’t give his best for the mixed doubles event. “I think we need to stop with the doom posting. He was never going to be putting 100% into a mixed doubles showcase event. This is a great warm up for him.”

Alcaraz’s first-round opponent at the US Open is yet to be decided. Though the Spaniard is still one of the top players in the world, he wouldn’t mind getting an easy draw on his return.

The post Tennis Fans Rally Behind Carlos Alcaraz as Major Podcast Questions His US Open Form appeared first on EssentiallySports.



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