Carlos Alcaraz said his second US Open victory was the “best tournament” he has played in his career – and will fuel his bid to complete a career Grand Slam, his next “main goal”.
It was a sixth Grand Slam title for Alcaraz, who dropped only one set throughout the fortnight in New York and produced what coach Juan Carlos Ferrero described as “a perfect performance” in the final.
“I feel like this is the best tournament that I have ever played,” said Alcaraz.
“The consistency of my level during the whole tournament has been really, really high, which I’m really proud of, because it’s something that I’ve been working on, to be really consistent.Â
“I think this tournament I saw that I can play really consistent.”
Alcaraz has been on a tear since May, losing just one match – to Sinner in the Wimbledon final.
He has reached eight finals in a row, winning six of them, and is on a 13-match winning streak.
Best bits: Alcaraz wows New York to beat Sinner and claim second US Open title
Video credit: TNT Sports
He has now won the US Open, Wimbledon and French Open twice, leaving the Australian Open as the only Grand Slam missing from his collection.
“It’s my first goal, to be honest,” said Alcaraz about his Career Grand Slam aims.
“When I go to the pre-season and what I want to improve, what I want to achieve, Australian Open is there.
“It’s the first or second tournament of the year, and it is always the main goal for me to complete a career Grand Slam, calendar Grand Slam. So it’s going to be great.
“If I do it first or second for me, to be honest, I don’t mind. I just want to complete it. Obviously I’m going to try to do it next year, but if it is not next year, hopefully in two and three and four. So I will try to complete it.”
Alcaraz now leads the head-to-head record 10-5 against Sinner and has won seven of their last eight meetings.
Sinner’s only success this year against Alcaraz came in the Wimbledon final – and the Spaniard says he learnt plenty from that defeat.
“I studied that match, I spoke with my coaches, and we spoke about what we would have done better in that match just in case I’m going to face him another time.
“We note everything, and we work on it. We just played that game. It doesn’t matter. At the beginning, we thought, ‘okay, it doesn’t matter if you lose, or he wins or I win’. I just wanted to do the right things.
“If I’m doing the right things and he plays an unbelievable match and he beats you, it’s okay, but at least you did the right things.
Sinner says he was ‘very predictable’ against Alcaraz as he eyes ‘changes’ to his game
Video credit: SNTV
“I think today worked really well. I did everything they told me that I had to do, and it worked. It worked pretty well.”
Sinner said Alcaraz “raised his level” in the final and did “everything slightly better”. He also lamented his own game was “very predictable”.
The beaten finalist said: “He changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know?
“That’s definitely [something] we are going to work on. I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match that I will play against him.
“I’m going to aim to, maybe even losing some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.
“At the end of the day, that’s my main goal. Overall, the season result-wise, amazing. Four Grand Slam finals of the year, two Grand Slams won, two times lost in the final, it’s incredible results, no?
“Very happy, and now we try to finish the year as strong as we can.”
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