Carlos Alcaraz to CNN: ‘I’m playing unbelievable tennis’
Carlos Alcaraz didn’t even bother to answer.
As he has done every year in his long career, Carlos Alcaraz was sitting on the court — on a day when he was struggling — when he was being asked about his play.
And he was being asked about how he was feeling in the aftermath of his first-round loss to eighth-seeded John Isner at the US Open.
Alcaraz responded with a monosyllabic, monotone grumble.
Carlos Alcaraz was asked about his tennis, and he said, “I’m playing unbelievable tennis.” “I’m playing unbelievable tennis,” he said later. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
The most famous of Alcaraz’s quotes is the one from his last year in San Diego, following his win over Roger Federer, where he said: “I’ve lost a lot of confidence, I’ve lost a lot of confidence, but also a lot of joy. But what can I do? I have the most pure motivation in the world to do everything possible to make this year my best year. And that can’t happen without winning the US Open.”
Well, then, now that’s a line he’s going to repeat in his next conversation with CNN.
Alcaraz will make $2,000,000 for this summer’s U.S. Open after receiving a $300,000, three-round qualifying exemption as a wild card into the tournament. The fact that he made it that far into the draw is a testament to how well he’s been playing.
His main concern, after losing the last three tournaments of a four-year run (at Miami and Flushing Meadows) is that his best years are behind him. The reality is that he’s still very, very good — on his back nine in 2011 he was 11-2 in career major championships, with an all-time 17-match winning streak and one of his best ever doubles win-loss records, and with a singles record of 45-12, and a
