Aug 31, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) reacts to a game winner against Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) (not pictured) on day eight of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

tennis

‘Hard to Accept’ – Carlos Alcaraz Pushes Back on Inconsistency Criticism After Latest Grand Slam Breakthrough

Carlos Alcaraz advances to round 4 of the 2025 US Open.

Few players have been as consistent as Carlos Alcaraz in 2025. Since the Italian Open, Alcaraz has lost just one match and made it to the final in every event. However, since the beginning of his career, there have been ramblings over Alcaraz’s alleged inconsistencies. Despite 5 Grand Slam wins, many analysts note that he tends to cool off suddenly in any tournament. Now the Spaniard has made his feelings clear on such criticisms.

Now he's just showing off 🔥

Carlos Alcaraz goes behind the back! pic.twitter.com/aoneI7Luae
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2025

Carlos Alcaraz Cites Grand Slam Success As Proof Of His Consistency

After a straightforward win at the third round of the US Open, Alcaraz is advancing to the quarterfinals. However, this win holds more importance because it’s the first time in Alcaraz’s career that he’s qualified for the quarterfinals of all Grand Slams in a calendar year. That’s certainly a big breakthrough for the highly popular 22-year-old. He took this as a chance to give a reply to the critics who call him inconsistent.

“Many people say that I’m not as consistent as I should be, but at the same time I have good results and I show that in the big tournaments,” Alcaraz said. “Sometimes it’s hard to accept that reaching the QF or SF is not enough.” Certainly, that makes sense. However, Alcaraz is dealing with the kind of expectations that all top players before him have had to face.

Alcaraz, who reached the final of his last 7 tournaments.

"Many people say that I’m not as consistent as I should be, but at the same time I have good results and I show that in the big tournaments. Sometimes it’s hard to accept that reaching the QF or SF is not enough". pic.twitter.com/8aXGNGeWZh
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 31, 2025

Because of their own previous standards, anything less than a final is seen as a disappointment by fans. In Alcaraz’s case, he won 3 Grand Slams in 2024. Naturally, that’ll lead to increased expectations and more scrutiny. However, one can’t deny that apart from the Australian Open (which has always been his weakness), Alcaraz played the final of each of the other two Grand Slams. Could he play one again in this year’s US Open? Chances are high, especially after Alcaraz showed his versatility in the third round of the US Open.

Alcaraz Shows Off His Ability to Adapt at the US Open

Carlos Alcaraz was always in for a tricky fixture against Arthur Rinderknech. The Frenchman’s big serves needed to be neutralized if Alcaraz wanted to win. In the first set, the Spaniard wasn’t able to properly tackle that issue. As a result, they went into the tiebreakers, which somehow Alcaraz won. However, this is where the 22-year-old showed why he’s World No.2 and a huge favorite to win the US Open.

Alcaraz began dropping deep for Rinderknech’s serves and using more of his bruising ball strikes. Suddenly, the Frenchman was on the back foot and things never picked up for him after that. In the end, Alcaraz won the match 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4. But he knew that the first set wasn’t really the way he wanted to play.

“At the beginning of the first set, we were tight. We didn’t have break points in the first set, but it didn’t mean we were serving good, because the percentage was really bad from both,” Carlos Alcaraz said after the match. With this win, Alcaraz also became the youngest player in the Open Era to reach 13 Grand Slam quarterfinals. That’s certainly a lot for a player who sometimes gets called inconsistent, isn’t it?

Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Arthur Rinderknech

ATP

Carlos Alcaraz

Tennis

US Open

US Open 2025

Sanskar Dubey

A passionate sports fan since childhood, it was always my dream to cover the peak of human potential. Baseball, Tennis, and Football (or Soccer) have been closest to my heart. From Rafael Nadal’s never-say-die attitude to Roger Federer’s beautiful backhand, I’ve seen it all. Prior to the Playoffs, I’ve worked in EssentiallySports and Pro Football and Sports Network.