Carlos Alcaraz makes ‘disconnection’ admission as he reveals New York ‘wish’

Carlos Alcaraz believes his inability to take a break during “a very intense summer” played a big role in his dip in form after the Olympics, but the Spaniard is refreshed and ready for the final stint of the 2024 season.

The world No 3 enjoyed an outstanding start to the summer as he won the French Open and Wimbledon to become the youngest player to complete the Surface Slam [winning at least one Grand Slam on grass, clay and hard court] at the age of 21.

There was no time to celebrate his two major trophies as he was soon off to Paris for the 2024 Olympics where he reached the final of the gold medal match at Roland Garros, but lost against Novak Djokovic.

After that it was straight to the United States, but he was brought back down to earth as he lost in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open against Gael Monfils and his poor form continued at the US Open as he was stunned in the second round by Botic van de Zandschlup.

Alcaraz admitted that the hectic schedule had taken its toll.

“It has been a tour that I expected to do better, I didn’t manage to play at the level I would have liked. But it is very difficult to perform at 100% at the level you want every day,” he said.

“This is tennis, anything can happen, and you have to accept things as they come. Several days have passed since I lost, I saw with the team that we have lacked preparation, I have had a very intense summer with Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Games.”

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The four-time Grand Slam winner’s early exit from the US Open meant he could fly back to Europe and “disconnect” from tennis as he spent some time with friends and also achieved one of his big goals as he attended the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

“I had a few days of rest, of disconnection, and also a little time to prepare for [the return to] the tour, I could not train as much as I would have liked to get there in the best possible way,” Alcaraz explained.

“It’s an experience from which I will learn and keep improving.”

The 21-year-old – who will next be in action for Spain in the Davis Cup Finals playoffs in Malaga – added that he “wished” he was still involved in the US Open in New York.

The Spaniard added: “I was with friends, I was able to go to Formula 1… These are things I wanted to do, but the calendar didn’t allow it.

“I wish I had been in New York, of course, but you have to find time to disconnect a little bit. I had two or three days that were good for me to calm down, but once I was calm, I thought the best thing to do was to get back to training, to give our best, to get physically very good to be confident on the [right] track.”