Alcaraz’s up-and-down Sunshine Swing came to an end on Sunday. In Indian Wells, he reached the semifinals before being upset by No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev. In Miami, he won just one match—a blockbuster against Joao Fonseca—before falling in three sets to No. 32 Korda on Sunday, marking the American’s biggest career win.
But a title-less March shouldn’t overshadow Alcaraz’s stellar start to the season. Nadal pointed to his Australian Open triumph, which made Alcaraz the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam. He also captured an ATP 500 title in Doha, held on to the world No. 1 ranking, and carried a 16-match unbeaten streak until Indian Wells.
“Are we really going to worry about two defeats? I don’t think so,” Nadal said. “That doesn’t make sense, and we shouldn’t demand more from him.”
Nadal knows the weight of national expectations in Spain. As a teenager, he broke through and rewrote history; more recently, he stepped away from the sport as a veteran statesman with 22 Grand Slam titles and 209 weeks as world No. 1.
