Following a victory at Wimbledon that has placed him as a favorite for any tournament he now enters, Carlos Alcaraz gave some telling answers during a press conference prior to the Hopman Cup. With the grass swing of the season now done and dusted, it is time to look forward to the hard courts. At this stage of the season Carlos is ahead of the pack, in a placed much better than he would have anticipated at the start of the season, or even just a few weeks back.
With just over a month left until the final Grand Slam of the season in New York, the players will soon be heading to America. On his part, Alcaraz has the path ahead outlined and it is safe to say the confident young man knows exactly what he wants and what he’s capable of.
Carlos Alcaraz wants to continue winning the biggest titles
The expectations on Carlos Alcaraz amped up significantly following his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open last year. However, there was still a caveat. He did not have to pass the toughest test at a Grand Slam- beating Novak Djokovic in a best of five set match. Having done that now, the expectations on the Spaniard have only increased but so has his confidence.
Sitting down for a press conference ahead of the Hopman Cup, Carlos gave everyone a glimpse of his thought process and what his objectives are for the remainder of the season. The three tournaments that he is eyeing are no surprise. In the build up to the US Open he’ll be entering the Toronto Masters and the Cincinnati Masters to win and set himself up to defend his title at Flushing Meadows.
“My focus is on the Toronto Masters 1000, which is one of the most important in the category. Whenever I go to a tournament I do it with the thought that I can win, with the certainty that I can win, so this summer I will play that tournament in Toronto and also the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. Although, obviously, the main objective is always the US Open, although the ideal is to go game by game”.
The two-time Major winner already has two Masters titles to his name this season with one of them coming at Indian Wells on hard courts. Naturally, Carlos is fairly confident about his chances in the upcoming Masters events culminating in a title defense at US Open. However, there is a good chance he will have to face Djokovic once again if he is to successfully win his third Major. And the Serb on a hard court is certainly not something any player can simply brush aside no matter the recent results.
Alcaraz has changed his mentality
Over the course of the same press conference, Alcaraz also touched upon what changed in him between his disastrous semifinal defeat at Roland Garros to the Wimbledon final just a few weeks later. Having failed to keep up with Djokovic in the clay Grand Slam, Alcaraz decided to focus on his mentality. He knew he already had the game to match the Serb but now he needed the mental fortitude.
“The great change has come mentally, as I already said. In Paris I didn’t know how to handle that pressure, Novak stepped on me, it was a Grand Slam semifinal and that’s never easy, especially against a player like him. At Wimbledon I think I prepared much better before the match, I did a few different things to enter the Wimbledon final with the intention of doing better, much more relaxed, I did some mental exercises during the final that I didn’t do at Roland Garros, this is what helped me to do better”.
Prior to his Wimbledon clash against Djokovic, Alcaraz had talked about his psychologist and how vital a part she is on his team. He’d even mentioned wanting to talk to his mental coach just so he could better deal with the pressure of facing Nole in a Wimble don final.
It is safe to say the Spaniard is now well equipped to handle most challenges that he could face as he looks to finish the season on a high.
