Carlos Alcaraz will head into this year’s US Open as one of the outstanding favourites, and with good reason.
After all, he is enjoying a remarkable hot streak where he has reached the final of his last seven consecutive events, two of which were Grand Slam tournaments, with the most recent one coming on hard courts too.
His form covers all bases to justify his inclusion in the latter stages of this event, and it certainly feels like the Spaniard seems far more relaxed and upbeat compared to last year, right before his shock second-round exit.
That could be owed to a few different factors, but playing the US Open’s new mixed doubles format with Emma Raducanu could certainly have contributed to increasing his enjoyment right on the eve of the final major of the year.
Carlos Alcaraz reveals if he enjoyed the US Open mixed doubles
And yet, when asked about it in his pre-tournament press conference, there actually seemed to be an element of regret over his performance despite assuring reporters he had fun whilst playing.
He and Raducanu lost in the first round to Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper, cutting short one of tennis’ most highly anticipated doubles pairings in recent memory.
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Asked about it, Carlos Alcaraz admitted: “It was great. I wish that I had more time just to be ready, you know, for that match. I couldn’t sleep that match, I couldn’t prepare the mixed tournament as good as I wanted.
“But it was fun, to be honest. The people, the energy that was there was great. Almost full, Arthur Ashe. I loved the atmosphere, I loved the support, and I love the format, to be honest.
Almost as if he was convincing himself, he reiterated again before moving on from this topic: “I just had fun. It was great. Not the result that we wanted. I think we could have been much better if we could have prepared much better. But it was great.”
Despite this carefree nature, there are still fears that Alcaraz could be in danger of another early exit at the US Open this year, with his draw worrying many.
Carlos Alcaraz hoping to copy what Jannik Sinner did to him at Wimbledon
Heading into Wimbledon, it was expected that Alcaraz would defend his title once again with ease.
After all, nobody had really come close to him on grass; not even Jannik Sinner.
The same could have been said for clay though, and his generation rival pushed him to the brink in the French Open final, even bringing about three championship points before conspiring to lose that match.
He wanted revenge and got it in the sweetest fashion, dethroning Alcaraz on Centre Court.
However, if this proves anything, it’s that seemingly unstoppable forces can be halted, even on their favourite surfaces.
Sinner is dominant on hard courts and at the US Open right now. But if Alcaraz is firing, he should feel confident of copying the same trick that Sinner did to steal the title from the reigning champion.