Carlos Alcaraz speaks with CNN after US Open win
Monday, July 19, 2011 | 10:30 a.m. ET
HONOLULU (CNN) — The US Open champion was happy to talk about his shot on Sunday, but not about his final point of the day.
Carlos Alcaraz, who won the men’s title last year at St. Louis, won his first singles title at the US Open on Sunday to cement a return to the top again on the ATP Finals circuit.
“I got the ball and had it on the line against Tommy (Miranda),” he said. “I hit a couple of shots good. I’m glad that I won the match, that is for sure.”
A month earlier, Alcaraz could have won the title on the same day and given himself the chance to defend his title in Los Angeles. The match began on the same day — the last time the US Open champion matched up against a No. 4 seed in his first tournament since a five-month layoff from tennis.
Instead, a chance to win back the US Open title was denied to a player who won three times in singles in the US Open last year. He will have revenge on Sunday.
But Alcaraz is not going to let himself be overshadowed.
“I think that is for the best and I am going to be happy to take it into the quarters and try to win,” he said. “I lost in five sets today, but I was glad to come here. I have to keep moving.
“I don’t have to take two days off. I just have to go out there and play my game and try to win, because I was so close to getting it and lost it. I can take positives from what happened today.”
Alcaraz’s career, on and off the court, has been one of the best in tennis. Injuries have restricted him from playing the way he once did in his prime.
He had a hip injury that forced him to miss five months from October to February last year, when he won four Grand Slam