Carlos Alcaraz is an Olympic medalist, so it's not a surprise that after his return to the ATP Tour, the first questions he had to answer were about his experience from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
As a 21-year-old athlete, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris were the first Olympics that the young Spaniard got to experience. Also because of that, he chose to stay in the Olympic Village, and he was one of the most requested athletes when it came to pictures and attention among other athletes.
When it came to competing, however, his focus was sharp, and that was highlighted by his run to the quarter-finals in the doubles competition with Rafael Nadal and a silver medal from the singles competition.
Alcaraz lost only to Novak Djokovic, who played an insane final match to realize his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal, but by doing so, he crushed dreams of his young rival, who lost in the final.
Perfectionist that he is, Alcaraz was obviously disappointed by the loss. After the Olympic Games, he took some time off, which players usually do during this part of the season, but he couldn't rest for too long, as the season continues.
To rest properly, which he explained was important for his success, the World No. 3 player chose to withdraw from the Canadian Open, but he will return to the competition at the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
He is the second-seeded player in the draw, starting against the winner of the match between Gael Monfils and Alexei Popyrin in the second round of the tournament.
Of course, ahead of the ATP Masters 1000 event, the silver medalist from Paris was asked about his experience, and he admitted, that immediately after the loss, he was thinking about how he could get better.
"I always want to be better, and I always think I can do better. I think I had a great summer…obviously I wanted the gold medal. After the matches I win or lose, I like to find the bad things I did and try to be better in the next match and not make the same mistakes. That’s what I saw in Paris, that I couldn’t deal with this situation as good as I wanted and that’s what I was thinking after the match."
While most of the time tennis players collect winners' trophies, this time, Alcaraz took home a silver medal, which is a different kind of achievement and trophy that tennis players are used to. Still, it will have a very nice place in his trophy cabinet.
"It’s at home! It is close to Wimbledon and Roland Garros trophies in the living room. It’s over there."
Prior to the Olympics, Alcaraz declared that if he had won the gold medal, he would get a commemorative tattoo, as he does for all of his big wins. Naturally, he was asked if he got tattoo to commemorate his silver medal, to which he responded that it applied only to winning a gold medal.
"No, because I didn’t get the gold! If I could have won the gold medal, I would have gotten a tattoo."