Carlos Alcaraz is refusing to let his Wimbledon final defeat to Jannik Sinner dampen his spirits, as the Spaniard gears up for the Cincinnati Masters, which begins this week.
The world number two, who lost his first-ever Grand Slam final on 14 July, spent his first full day at the Cincinnati venue on 6 August and said he is focused on resetting his goals for the second half of the season.
“Even if I lost, I left the court proud after Wimbledon,” said Alcaraz, who was runner-up in Cincinnati last year. “The goals can change now. My aim is to keep doing the right things and improving.”
Alcaraz is determined to enjoy himself both on and off the court while remaining ambitious: “I want to enjoy my time, but I also want to try and recover the number one ranking by the end of the year.”
The 21-year-old skipped the Toronto Masters alongside Sinner and spent three weeks at home in Spain, taking a much-needed break after the intense grass-court season.
“I took a week off doing absolutely nothing, then started training again at home. I caught up with friends and family just being at home during summer felt surreal,” he said. “I tried to make the most of it. I wanted to come strong to Cincy.”
Having defeated Sinner in the French Open final before losing to him at Wimbledon, Alcaraz acknowledged the significance of their growing rivalry.
“I’m happy to be building this kind of rivalry with Jannik. We’ve already done a lot in tennis in a short time,” he said. “People talk about what we’ve achieved in the history books, but we still have long careers ahead. Let’s see how far we can go.”
