Carlos Alcaraz started his 2023 US Open with a win, but the Spaniard is not thinking about defending the trophy.
There has been much pressure on Carlos Alcaraz leading up to the US Open. Not only was he guaranteed to lose his number one rank after the event, but he's a defending champion at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
He won the event last year, but there was no Novak Djokovic back then. The Serbian is here and looking as dangerous as ever, which the Cincinnati Masters final demonstrated quite well. After his own 'win' over Dominik Koepfer, Alcaraz said he's excited to be back on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Well, I was excited to play my first round here in US Open. I mean, it was great to step on court again in the Arthur Ashe after such a great run last year. I was excited to come back.
Even so, Alcaraz is not thinking about defending the trophy at the event. He wants to focus on playing as well as he can and see what he can do on the court. It's probably the best method in trying to deal with the pressure and he has an abundance of pressure at this year's US Open.
I'm not thinking about the defending the title. I was not thinking about I was the champion last year. I just focus on play my best level, to recover the level that I played last year, try to do same things that I did last year. That's the only thing that I'm thinking right now.
One thing that could help Alcaraz is the draw as it's a pretty tricky one which might work in his favour as every win should give him more belief in himself. Sometimes, coasting through the draw ends up being less than ideal.
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