An aspect of Carlos' character that I find exceptionally compelling and yet rarely discussed is his chronic aversion to being pursued. And by pursued I specifically mean that Carlos does not enjoy being alone at the pinnacle of tennis because the responsibility of both bearing and creating a legacy of that magnitude is, conceivably, an immense burden to manage alone. It's why, in my opinion, Carlos makes these quippy remarks about other players treating him like he's Federer when they're matched against him in a way that implies he doesn't like being treated differently because he's world number one. Carlos' comfort zone is being the one in pursuit, the underdog, the perennial up-and-comer who's also a career slam winner but shhhhh.
Carlos wants to win. Obviously. There is no loss to any player that Carlos will ever be happy about. However, my argument is that the reason Carlos prefers to.. come from the back, let's say, is because it's a better story. A crowd loves a comeback, a hard fought win, the kind of match that brings out that inspired tennis Carlos is renowned for. Carlos' crowd work isn't just macho dick-swinging, it's a part of his arsenal to upset his competitor's rhythm. More than they would like, every player feeds on the energy of the crowd and consequently, any shift in that dynamic can have a dramatic impact on the momentum of a match.
When Carlos is down, he's a fighter, and when he's a fighter he's at his best; which is where Jannik comes in. Compared to the rest of the tour, Jannik occupies a unique space in the sense that Carlos probably prefers losing to Jannik because it means he's been well and truly outplayed. But Carlos also wants to beat Jannik more than any other player because he wants to cement the sanctity of their rivalry so that Jannik cannot slip out of his grasp. With Jannik at his side Carlos can share the burden of greatness, while preferably winning the share of the silverware because that's the ultimate ideal of their rivalry for Carlos. Him winning with dogged, highlight reel tennis, and Jannik losing beautifully-- grateful to be a part of history.
Except now it's Carlos in the lead. Carlos as the player everyone is expecting to run off with the number one ranking. And he still has yet to meet Jannik in a match this year. I'm not attributing the lack of Sundays entirely to this dip in performance from Carlos. I do think being back to reckoning with being the best and the attention, the competition that entails is also a factor. But when he was world number two and Jannik was the goal, Carlos could sink his teeth into the pursuit and pull everyone along on his epic to reclaim number one because he was meeting Jannik in all these finals and thus the weight of history could be shared between them.
Now though, we have seen on several occasions where matches have slipped off of Carlos' racquet not just because he's been wrong-footed by the level of tennis, but as mentioned previously, the burden of expectation as the top player that he hasn't had the opportunity yet to mitigate through playing and beating Jannik. Which is the ultimate proof of his skills. Whenever Carlos has had to fight through a pressure point, such as the second set against Sebastian Korda at Miami, his level has lifted dramatically because he gets to slip back into that underdog comfort zone, spurred on by the crowd. Yet once they were back on even footing in the third, Sebastian found his way back in by once again being the one to pursue Carlos.
I don't say any of this to disparage Carlos either. I think it's fascinating that for a player as cocky, and given to showboating as Carlos is on court, that he shies away from being perceived as a top player in a way that invites this kind of "Federer level" competitive obsession. It's why I would hazard he is also so defensive of keeping the duopoly with Jannik. Not only is it easier to fight for titles when there is only one consistently significant threat in the draw, but also it gives Carlos the stability of being needing by Jannik and his tennis, because what if a third does come in and takes Jannik away? What if Jannik likes being pursued by someone else more? Carlos chose Jannik and therefore he should also get to keep Jannik-- a trophy of Carlos' success just as much as the titles to his name.