After losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals on Friday, Carlos Alcaraz’s dream to defend the US Open title came to an abrupt end, and he expressed he needs to grow up.
The 20-year-old Spaniard, who won his first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open as a teenager last year, said this week that he was a more experienced and powerful opponent this time around. After his devastating loss by 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 3-6 6-3 on Friday, Alcaraz quickly altered his perspective.
Alcaraz expressed his thoughts in the post-match conference: “I thought that right now I am a better player to find solutions when the match is not going in the right direction for you. But after this match, I’m gonna change my mind. I’m not mature enough to handle these kinds of matches. So I have to learn about it.”
He further added: “I’m gonna think about this loss for a long time. Of course, I have to learn about it. I want to be better. These kind of matches help you a lot to be better and grow up in these kind of situations.”
Alcaraz admitted that during the first set tie-break, he found it difficult to remain focused after losing a number of points that put him in trouble. He said: “It was really tough for me to handle it.”
Carlos Alcaraz in 2023
Now ranked no.1, Alcaraz played his last match on the 8th of September when he capitulated to world no.3 Daniil Medvedev 7-6(3) 6-1 3-6 6-3 in the semifinal of the U.S. Open (draw).
This year Alcaraz achieved a compiled 58-7 match record. Carlos conquered 6 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, London and Wimbledon. Carlos was the finalist in Rio de Janeiro and Cincinnati.