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Carlos Alcaraz began his reign as the World No. 1 with a loss, falling to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 2022 Davis Cup Finals. Less than a week after his exploits at the US Open, where he became the first teenager since Rafael Nadal in 2005 to win a Grand Slam title, the Spaniard flew to Valencia to represent Spain in the competition.
Although the teenager did not play against Serbia, he was selected to compete against Canada, where he took on World No. 13 Auger-Aliassime in the second singles rubber. Despite taking the first set in a brilliant tiebreaker, the exhaustion of the last two weeks caught up with the Spaniard in the next two, as he bit the dust, losing 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2 to the Canadian in front of his home fans.
With Roberto Bautista Agut beating Vasek Pospisil in the first rubber, the contest was to be decided in the doubles encounter, which also went in favor of Canada to give the North American team the tie 2-1.
Tennis fans on social media were not too concerned with Carlos Alcaraz's loss, remarking that it was quite understandable that he was tired after such a demanding stint in New York. At the same time, they blamed the Spanish Tennis Federation and Alcaraz himself in part for the "awful" decision to jump back into action so soon.
"I get that he wants to pay back all the support he has received from the Spanish Federation and the Spanish fans but... boy was that an awful decision to play DC so soon after an exhausting US Open," a fan wrote.
At the same time, one fan noted that it was mighty impressive how the Spaniard could even put up a fight against Auger-Aliassime considering how exhausted he must have been.
"A very impressive fight, considering 11 days ago Carlos Alcaraz was in the 1/8 finals of the US Open and played a marathon 17 hours in 4 matches since then," a Twitter user wrote.
Meanwhile, users on Twitter were ecstatic with the Canadian's performance regardless of Alcaraz's physical state. Some remarked that he belongs among the best young players in the world at the moment and that he was capable of beating anyone on his day.
"To beat the current US Open champ, World No. 1, in Spain, down a set, takes a lot of guts. One of the best wins in FAA’s career," a user tweeted.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
"I wanted to come back to Spain to share this moment, to be No. 1, with all my people" - Carlos Alcaraz
Speaking at his press conference afterwards, Carlos Alcaraz admitted that, despite the loss, it was special to share this moment of being World No. 1 and the reigning US Open champion with fans in his home country.
While he could have used the win, he was nothing but happy that he got to experience the high of playing in front of his friends and family as the top-ranked ATP player.
"Yeah, I wanted to come back to Spain to share this moment, to be No. 1, to be US Open champion, with all my people," Carlos Alcaraz said. "Yeah, I mean, I always love to come back to Spain, my family, my friends, here with the team as well. I'm so, so happy to come back and of course share this moment with all of them."
Also Checkout:- Davis Cup 2022 Results
