Carlos Alcaraz recently returned to the champions' circle by winning the 2024 China Open, and he believes that the US Open failure from earlier had something to do with it.
Alcaraz had a dreadful time after the Paris Olympics, failing to win any of the events that followed. He was playing far below his level and frustrated by it. He even smashed his racket during one of the matches, something he apologized for later on.
The US Open didn't go well for him, as he was shockingly beaten by Botic Van de Zandschulp in straight sets. It was clear that Alcaraz was not enjoying himself on the court and needed a minor break.
It came after the US Open as he headed back to Europe, where he stepped away from the courts a little bit. He returned at the Davis Cup, where he won two matches. He looked even better at the Laver Cup, winning a couple more matches, and then arrived in Beijing for the China Open.
He was tremendous in Beijing, playing some of his best tennis in a very long time. It culminated with a superb win over Jannik Sinner in the final.
Alcaraz then moved to Shanghai, where he spoke a bit about his recent weeks, admitting that he was trying to build some momentum in the past weeks with all the matches he played. He did that, and it's worked out well for him.
"Well, I'm trying to get the momentum. I think I'm feeling great on the court, physically I'm feeling good. For me, for my tennis, it's really important to feel that way. I'm hitting the ball really, really well as well, so I'm trying to be the same way in the matches. I'm a guy that tries to keep the positive things."
He then also looked back on the US Open swing, which wasn't the best for him. That motivated the Spanish player to finish the season quite well and make a good start in China.
He won the China Open, and that wouldn't have been as easily possible unless he had the extra time to rest that he had by losing early in New York.
"For example, in the American swing, it didn't go as I expected, so I had more time to prepare well this part of the season. I had some weeks that I really worked, I put in really good work physically on the court as well, just to feel great coming to this tournament."
"I think that's the difference, and that's why I'm showing really good tennis, because physically I'm feeling great and, you know, I'm just trying to have joy and enjoy my time on the court, playing good points, playing good rallies, and the way that I'm hitting the ball is quite good lately."
Losing early is never preferred for a tennis player, but sometimes it can work out well. Alcaraz, so far, has been able to make the maximum off his early loss as he started the 2024 Shanghai Masters with a win as well.
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