Carlos Alcaraz admits he would like to become the first player since Roger Federer to successfully defend a US Open title. Between 2004 and 2008, Federer won five consecutive US Open titles. Since then, no player has managed to win the US Open in back-to-back years.
Last year, Alcaraz became a Grand Slam champion after beating Casper Ruud in the US Open final. Now, 20-year-old Alcaraz is hoping to defend his US Open title and win his third Grand Slam title after also winning Wimbledon this summer.
“Sharing that feat with Roger would be amazing,” Alcaraz said, via Jose Morgado.
Alcaraz says it’s an extra motivation trying to become the first man to defend a USOpen title since 2008. “Sharing that feat with Roger would be amazing”.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) September 1, 2023
Alcaraz hopes to emulate Federer’s US Open feat
On Thursday, Alcaraz set up a US Open third-round meeting against Dan Evans after beating Lloyd Harris 6-3 6-1 7-6 (4).
Carlos Alcaraz© Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
In the first set against Harris, Alcaraz claimed breaks in the fifth and ninth games to win the opener.
After winning the first set, Alcaraz also broke Harris twice in the second set to open a comfortable two-set lead. After easily losing the first two sets, Harris performed better in the third set as he earned his first break of the match in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead.
However, Harris’ lead was short-lived as Alcaraz got the break back in the seventh game before converting his first match point in the third-set tie-break to complete a straight-set win. “I played a great match from the beginning of the match until the last ball.
If I have to pick out something I think I played a good second set without many mistakes and playing my game. I did have a bad game in the third set when I got broken and I had to forget it. I stayed strong mentally and played a great return game to break back. It was very important for me to get another straight-sets win in the first rounds,” Alcaraz said.
