Carlos Alcaraz brushes off concerns over scrappy, lengthy matches – ‘It doesn’t matter too much’

Carlos Alcaraz would prefer to spend less time on court in the build-up to the US Open, but he insists the lengthy matches at the Cincinnati Open won’t have a negative impact on him.

The world No 1 has already spent eight hours on court at the ATP Masters 1000 event as he was once again forced to go the distance against Max Purcell in the quarter-final, coming from a set down to beat the Australian qualifier.

The matches against Tommy Paul and Jordan Thompson also went to three setters while last week at the Canadian Open two of his three matches also went the distance.

With the start of his US Open title defence just over a week away, some feel it could put the Spaniard on the back foot before the tournament has even started.

But Alcaraz feels he will have more than enough time to rest after the Cincinnati event.

“Well, after this tournament you have a week, so for me it doesn’t matter too much if I go to three sets or not. I don’t feel like it helps me to go to New York where I will have to potentially play five-setters,” he said.

“I always said that the less you are on the court, the better for you to recover, to stay healthier.

“But you never know if you’re going to play two sets or three sets. You have to win, it doesn’t matter if it’s in two or three. Right now it is being three, but I have to be more focused to do it in two.”

The 20-year-old will face Hubert Hurkacz – a player he beat in Toronto last week – for a place in the Cincinnati final, but he feels he has already picked up valuable experience.

Of course he knows that he needs to up his game, but there is also the case of opponents raising their game when they face the very best in the business.

“I feel like I’m playing well. Obviously not my best. I can increase my level, of course,” he said.

“But I feel the opponents, when they are playing against me, I’m going to say, well, they play a little bit better. Obviously, I will say that you can be better every day.”

Victory over Hurkacz will help Alcaraz to secure the world No 1 ranking ahead of the US Open, which will earn him the top seed for the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.

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