Alcaraz: “It was not an easy game, but I found my best level at the end”

Carlos Alcaraz became the first player with at least 50 wins this season on the ATP Tour, but he had to push himself from start to finish to get it. After three hours of play, he beat the Australian jordan thompson7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in his debut at Cincinnati Western and Southern Open.

The Murcian needs just seven more wins to equal the 57 he added last season, during which he won five titles, one of which was the Grand Slam (US Open) and reached world number one for the first time. In the current course he has six titles, including his second Grand Slam, Wimbledon, and the leader of the world ranking.

The progress of the tennis player from El Palmar was unstoppable. His trend since his early days on the ATP Tour, and his number of wins per year reflect this. After adding just one in 2020, the season in which he debuted on the circuit, Alcaraz reached 32 in 2021 and finished 2022 as the tennis player with the third most wins of the year. Now he is a solid candidate to finish 2023, for the first time in his career, as the leader in games won in a season.

After defeating Thompson in the first meeting between the two, Alcaraz once again proved himself as the leader in victories in 2023, surpassing the records of Daniil Medvedev (48), Taylor Fritz (43), Jannik Sinner (41) and Andrey Rublev (40) . Of course, the second round in Cincinnati was not easy to continue adding. Time and his rival, 55 in the world, joined forces to make it harder for him.

“It was not an easy game, but I found my best level at the end,” said Alcaraz.. “We’ve been waiting all day to play the game and then when you step on the pitch the rain has a 1-1 score, so it wasn’t easy. But you have to find a way to win these matches in these situations,” added Carlos.

With this result, Alcaraz also reached 140 career victories on the ATP Tour (only 36 losses) and returned to the round of 16 in Cincinnati, where he was a quarterfinalist in 2022 (losing to Cameron Norrie).