Carlos Alcaraz speaks with CNN after US Open win
On July 13, 2017 Carlos Alcaraz, a 19 year old who lived in Mexico, a country where people play tennis in temperatures hovering around 90-95 degrees for 8-10 hours straight, won the U.S. Open, beating two-time champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the final.
He broke Nadal’s American Open singles title, the only U.S. Open men’s singles title ever won by someone who had not previously won the Australian Open, by beating him in the final of a Grand Slam event.
In a previous interview, Alcaraz had praised Nadal, saying that he is the greatest tennis player that has ever lived, adding that he would want to play against him at Wimbledon.
Nadal, whose career and his current win over Alcaraz have become a media spectacle (particularly on social media), offered no denial of his record of 11 major singles titles in the U.S. or of his win over Alcaraz in the final of the U.S. Open, despite the fact that his American Open title over Alcaraz had never been vacated.
Alcaraz, a former Mexican national champion, says that he wants to win three U.S. Open titles. He’s the No. 4 ranked player in the world, he’s the best U.S. player since Rod Laver, and he had previously beaten Nadal in the U.S. Open in 2014. That would make him the fastest player to do so.
Alcaraz tells CNN that he’s not trying to win three U.S. Open titles, or even a U.S. Open singles title on clay. He is actually trying to win a U.S. Open doubles title. He told CNN that he is targeting the Grand Slam event to make a point about the lack of recognition he’s received from the media because of his status as a former Mexican national champion.
Alcaraz says that he doesn’t make money on these “torturous matches.” He’