Carlos Alcaraz received a mysterious package from his team during his match at the 2023 US Open.
Taking on Great Britain's Daniel Evans, the Spaniard lost his first set at the 2023 US Open, but eventually won the match in four sets. However, during the match, attentive eyes of tennis fans caught another interesting moment.
In the past, Novak Djokovic received a mysterious drink in Paris, and many tennis fans were speculating about what it was that helped the 36-year-old Serb. The players are regularly tested for banned substances, and that's why John McEnroe backed the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
Now, his biggest rival on the ATP Tour was in a similar moment, when he received a dose of pills during his match at the 2023 US Open. The Spaniard was handed it by one of the ball boys, who collected the mysterious package from Alcaraz's team.
Immediately, fans started speculating what the pills were for, if the 20-year-old had any physical problems, or if they were meant only to improve his performance. None of that is known, as he wasn't asked about it in his post-match press conference.
When talking to journalists, the Spaniard was asked only about his rival Djokovic, but also about his level, which until this point has been more than sufficient to reach the fourth round on his maiden title defense on a Grand Slam level.
"Yeah. I think I'm playing a good level. I'm feeling really, really well on court, really comfortable. I always say that I can be better, but right now I'm really, really happy with the level that I'm playing."
It will be interesting to follow if the Spaniard receives any other mysterious packages in the next rounds or if it was only a one-off thing when he might have been feeling not well, and therefore needed help.