Carlos Alcaraz may finally be putting his injury problems behind him, but the Spanish tennis star is still finding plenty to worry about away from the court.
A lifelong Real Madrid supporter, Alcaraz admitted Wednesday that watching his team struggle early in the 2026-27 La Liga season has been painful, with the club already six points behind Barcelona after seven matches.
Real Madrid fell 2-1 to city rival Atletico Madrid on Sunday, leaving the club third in the standings on 15 points, behind Barcelona on 21 and Atletico on 16.
Asked about Real Madrid's performances under new manager Jose Mourinho, Alcaraz said the club's collection of talented players should be producing more.
"Right now, I'm seeing other teams doing better. They are Real Madrid, great players, talented," Alcaraz told Stats Perform ahead of the Laver Cup.
"As a team, they can do better. They have to work it out a little bit. I'm suffering right now watching the games because you never know what's going to happen. I would say a little bit more intensity."
The latest setback came in the Madrid derby at the Metropolitano, where Real were reduced to 10 men after Dean Huijsen was sent off. Atletico took advantage through Alejandro Grimaldo's penalty and Jonathan David's goal before Antonio Rüdiger pulled one back late.
The defeat was Real's second in seven league games and added to the questions surrounding a team that entered the season with significant expectations.
For Alcaraz, the frustration comes at an otherwise encouraging time in his tennis career.
After spending four months away from the tour, the Spaniard returned at the U.S. Open and reached the quarterfinals. He has since joined Yannick Noah's Team Europe for the Laver Cup, where he will make his first professional appearance at London's O2 Arena.
Alcaraz will be one of the headline names when the ninth edition of the three-day team competition begins Friday. He joins Alexander Zverev, Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Jódar, Jakub Menšík and Casper Ruud on a Team Europe lineup seeking to regain the trophy after losing to Team World in San Francisco last year.
Team World, captained by Andre Agassi, features Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Brandon Nakashima, Alexander Bublik, Learner Tien and Francisco Cerúndolo.
The Laver Cup begins Friday and runs through Sunday at The O2. The opening two days feature singles and doubles matches, with the points value increasing each day before the competition concludes Sunday. The first team to reach 13 points wins the title.
While Alcaraz will be focused on helping Europe reclaim the trophy, he will also have one eye on developments back home in Madrid.
His Team Europe teammate Casper Ruud, meanwhile, offered a much more cheerful assessment of his football team of choice. The Norwegian praised Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, describing his compatriot as the world's best striker.
"His ratio of touches to goals, I mean, no one can match him. No one is even near," Ruud said.