On the scale of self-awareness, Carlos Alcaraz was a 12 out of 10 after US Open defeat

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“You know, I thought that right now I am a better player to find solutions when the match is not going in the right direction. But after this match, I gonna change my mind. I'm not mature enough to handle these kind of matches. So I have to learn about it.” - Defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, top seed this time around, on his four-set semifinal loss to No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev.

NEW YORK— The fact that Alcaraz is mature enough to admit that he wasn’t mature enough to handle the kind of match that kept a standing-room-only crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium riveted for three hours and 20 minutes on Friday evening at the US Open may come as cold comfort to his supporters.

But there are circumstances to consider that might soften that blow.

Alcaraz knew as well as anyone that no man had repeated as US Open champion since Roger Federer in 2008. Whether that’s a degree-of-difficulty issue, a historical quirk, or a supernatural hex cast over the tournament by witches who happen to worship the Swiss icon, is beside the point.

Embracing the mission certainly entailed some pressure.

Then there was the opponent himself. Many people going gaga over the prospect of a boldly forecast—and endlessly hyped—potential rematch of the Wimbledon final between Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic seemed to have forgotten about the guy standing in the way of that: the former champion Medvedev. He’s a terror on the hard court in Ashe, the man who stepped up when no one else could to halt Djokovic’s bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam in 2021.

Being a bit of a forgotten man in Gotham also might have had a salutary effect on Medvedev's motivation. He’s a cool customer, too proud and clever to grind his axe in public. He downplayed any suggestion that he had a point to prove, or even that he had the hard-court chops to go toe-to-toe with Alcaraz.

In the run-up to the match, he said that on a scale of 1-to-10, he would have to play at a level of 11 to have a chance to win. Even Alcaraz read that quote, and said after Medvedev won, 7-6(3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3: “[He made] no mistakes, great serve today. So I think he played his game. Ten out of 10, that's what he say.”

Someone corrected him, referring to Medvedev’s post-match on-court interview: “He [Medvedev] said 12 out of 10 on the court.”

But why quibble? Medvedev’s win was a vivid testament to the importance of experience and pacing. He raced out of the starting gate to take a two set lead, at which point the sensational shots that everyone either assumed or hoped to see from the Magician of Murcia began to appear. Alcaraz roared back to take the third set with relative ease. He had the momentum, and seemed poised to make his move in the fourth as Medvedev struggled to hold at 1-all.

The general feeling in the air—and on the air in the television commentary boxes—was that the match was going the five-set distance. But Medvedev dodged a few break points to hold on in that critical third game, and made a breakthrough that many did not anticipate in a see-saw sixth game.

Then the last thing anyone expected happened: the air went out of Alcaraz’s game. Meanwhile, a second wind kicked in for Medvedev. Although Medvedev's serve was shaky at best in the decisive game, Alcaraz was unable to capitalize on two critical break points between three match points. Medvedev finally buried a smash to end the match.

This was an experience that Alcaraz will file away in the mental compartment called “seasoning” after the disappointment wears off, a period that Alcaraz said may take “probably days [or] weeks.” He also said he doubted that he would brood over the loss for a long time.

“Of course I have to learn about it. These kinds of matches help you a lot to be better and grow up in these kinds of situations.”

Give him a 12 on the scale of self-awareness.