Carlos Alcaraz believes his recent participation in a duo of team tournaments helped increase his motivation for the final quarter of the 2024 season.
The world No.2 represented Spain in the Davis Cup last month before heading to Berlin where he made his debut in the three-day Laver Cup – at the Laver Cup Alcaraz won eight points for Team Europe which is a new record for the competition. The previous record was seven points achieved by Roger Federer in 2017.
Alcaraz continued his surge in form at the China Open where he claimed his 16th ATP title on Wednesday after fighting back from a set down to oust Jannik Sinner in a three-set thriller. At the event, he also scored wins over former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.
“I had a really good month of practice after the American swing. Of course, the Davis Cup and the Laver Cup helped me a lot to get the energy back, to get motivated again,” the 21-year-old Spaniard told reporters on Thursday.
“I love playing team competition, the Davis Cup with the players, with their team, with the Spanish Federation as well, all the people who are around just to help me to be better, and feeling great off the court as well, that for me is really important. The Laver Cup, it’s the same thing.
“Those competitions helped me a lot to get the joy back on the court and being focused on what’s next. I came here to Asia with a lot of energy, enjoy every single second that I step on the court, and that for me it’s really important.”
There is no time for Alcaraz to celebrate with his next tournament, the Shanghai Masters, already underway. The four-time Grand Slam champion has previously voiced concerns about the Tour schedule by saying the current calendar is ‘going to kill us.’ After his marathon victory over Sinner in Beijing yesterday evening, he was doing his press conference duties in Shanghai by midday today.
“The tennis schedule is so, so tight, we’re traveling from tournament to tournament with just one or two days before the tournament begins, so it is difficult, but we have to get used to it,” he said.
“I just did everything in a rush… we arrived here in Shanghai super late so I couldn’t sleep as much as I wanted.”
He will have a couple of days to get used to the conditions before playing his next match, which is scheduled to be against China’s Shang Juncheng who recently claimed his maiden ATP title in Chengdu. Alcaraz is playing in Shanghai for only the second time in his career. Last year he reached the fourth round before losing to Grigor Dimitrov.
“I’m going to approach the match the same way that I approach every match, I’m going to prepare as best as I can,” he said.
“I hope to keep playing the same way that I’m playing and let’s see what’s going to happen, but I’ll be ready.”
Alcaraz is seeded third in Shanghai behind Alexander Zerev and Sinner. He is bidding to become the first Spanish man to win the title.
