Carlos Alcaraz reveals his biggest fear on court
Carlos Alcaraz is in great shape and is training well in New York for the 2024 US Open, which takes place today at Flushing Meadows. Former world number 1 will seek his third straight Grand Slam title after triumphs at the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships, not to mention a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
At just 21, Carlitos has already won four Majors and five Masters 1000. The young Spaniard will try to become the youngest player ever to win five Grand Slam titles. New York evokes good memories in the mind of Alcaraz, who won his first Major in NY in 2022.
The 21-year-old from Murcia had not shown his best tennis at last year’s US Open, losing to a great Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals. The Spaniard has been using a lot of energy over the last couple of months and didn’t seem particularly bright in Cincinnati, where he was eliminated by French veteran Gael Monfils in the second round. The world number 3 has been using these days to practice intensively and wants to be ready for his debut match. Carlos suffered a small ankle injury during a practice session for a few days, but it was nothing serious.
Alcaraz is in great shape
Carlos Alcaraz has great ambitions in the second part of the season and would like to close 2024 at the top of the ATP ranking. The Spaniard champion needs to get a great result at the 2024 US Open to try and get close to Jannik Sinner.
During an interview with SuperTennis TV, Carlitos revealed his greatest fear during tennis matches: “What I fear the most will always be injuries. Anything can happen, but we try to take care of ourselves to prevent it. The forearm injury worried me a lot; I didn’t know if I would recover well. I have managed to play again without fear, but anything can happen.”
Alcaraz is ready for the tournament: “What excites me the most is to feel the love from the people of New York again. It’s a very special tournament for me, and the affection I receive is immense. I can’t wait to play the first match and try to deliver my best tennis so they can enjoy it.”
He also recalled the Olympic final: “Well, this is one of the most important final of my career, of my life. I know that the Olympic Game is every four years, so I don’t know if I’m gonna have another chance to win the gold. I’m gonna fight for it, for sure, the next Olympics Games. But, you know, in front of me, I had a really good player that he was fighting for the same thing as me, and he deserve it. So days after the Olympics was, okay, I realize that I won the silver medal, it was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of.”
Carlitos wants to shine in NY
According to some insiders, Alcaraz has not yet fully digested the loss against Novak Djokovic at the Olympics in Paris. During the latest edition of her podcast, tennis legend Rennae Stubbs reflected on Carlitos’ current status: “This was such an anomaly to see Carlos Alcaraz lose his mind like that in Cincinnati. Our sweet little baby Carlitos, who is literally the nicest guy.
I did a Q&A with all the players at Cincinnati and the question I asked every single guy was, ‘Who’s the happiest and most-liked person in the locker room?’, and every single one of them either said Frances Tiafoe or Carlos Alcaraz. His brain is still broken from losing the gold medal. I think he’s played a lot of tennis and he’s got a lot of pressure on his shoulders now. I think he’s tired now. Anyone who came off of playing at the Olympics and was playing in Cincinnati was just, mentally and physically drained.”
The Spanish ace is one of the most anticipated players in this edition of the US Open, which promises to be very uncertain. Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic are the three big favorites for the win, but this tournament has been full of surprises in recent years.
In the press conference, the former World No.1 also commented on Sinner’s controversy: “It’s a really difficult moment for him, that’s for sure. It is complicated. I mean, I’m not gonna lie, it is complicated. But obviously what I can say? I mean, in English it’s going to be difficult for me to explain myself, but I try. Well, I believe in a clean sport.
So I don’t know too much about that. You know, I am pretty sure that there are a lot of things that we don’t know, you know, inside the team or inside, you know, everything. But if they let Jannik keep playing, it’s for something, they said he’s innocent. So that’s all I know and that’s all I can talk about.”
