Carlos Alcaraz discloses his main goal for the remainder of 2023 and reveals Rafael Nadal ‘dream’
At the start of the 2023 season Carlos Alcaraz set his sights on winning one of the four Grand Slams this year, but now that he achieved that target, what are his goals for the rest of the campaign as well as 2024?
Following his incredible breakthrough season in 2022 during which he won his maiden major at the US Open and also became the youngest-ever world No 1, there were suggestions that Alcaraz could suffer from the so-called second season syndrome.
A lot of young players go off the boil the year after their initial success, but Alcaraz is a different breed as he has already achieved his ambition of winning a major this year as he won Wimbledon after defeating Novak Djokovic in the showpiece final, ending the tennis great’s long unbeaten run at the tournament.
In an interview with L’Équipe the 20-year-old was asked about his aspirations for the remainder of the year now that he has already won a Slam and he replied: “To win a second.”
The Spaniard will get a chance to win second Grand Slam in 2023 when he defends his US Open title from August 28 at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Alcaraz is already one of only five players to win multiple Grand Slams in the Open Era before turning 21 with Mats Wilander (4), Bjorn Borg (3), Boris Becker (2) and Rafael Nadal (2) the other players to have achieved the feat.
After that, the attention will turn to the ATP Finals before focus switches to the 2024 campaign and when asked if beating the great Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros would be a goal for next season, Alcaraz stated: “It could be a good goal. But it will be the same every year: win a Grand Slam every year.”
The Paris Olympics takes place next year and the world No 1 admitted that “the goal is to get a medal”.
One of his ambitions for next year also involved his childhood idol Nadal as he admits it would be a “dream” to team up with the 22-time Grand Slam winner at the Paris Games.
“It would be a dream. Not only to win a medal at singles or doubles, but just to live the experience of a doubles with your idol would be a memory that I would keep with special affection,” he told Spain’s radio COPE in a different interview.
