By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday March 25, 2023
Back in Miami, at the scene of his first Masters 1000 triumph, Carlos Alcaraz says that not much has changed compared to last year.
Editor's note: We beg to differ, as Carlitos is now a US Open champion and the youngest No.1 and year-end No.1 in ATP history, but...
Last year the then-18-year-old told reporters that he felt he was ready to win a Grand Slam, and he got it done in dramatic fashion at the US Open, saving a match point en route to becoming the youngest US Open champion in 32 years.
This year, Alcaraz is back, and believing that he has what it takes to win *more* Slams.
Not much has changed, really, unless you count that fact that adding a year’s worth of invaluable experience and training has probably made Alcaraz even more lethal than he was in 2022. Anybody who watched him carve up Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's BNP Paribas Open final would find it hard to argue...
“Is different to be back here as a defending champion,” he said on Friday at Miami, after surging past Facunco Bagnis to the tune of just two games dropped. I think when I say that I'm ready to win a Grand Slam [last year] it was not wrong.
“Here I'm going to say the same: So I'm going to win another Grand Slam,” he said nonchalantly.
More Responsible About His Body
Alcaraz had a few concerning injury run-ins over the last six months, when he strained his abdominal in Paris last year, then picked up a hamstring injury just over a month later, while training for the Australian Open. Some have become concerned that injuries might be the one thing that can sabotage Alcaraz’s steady rise, but the Spaniard says he has learned a lot from the experience.
What is he doing differently now, compared to last year?
“I said that I have to take care about myself a little bit more off the court, taking care about going to bed early, resting better, eating well, taking care of myself off the court. That's the most important thing for me,” he said. “I would say I didn't do as well as I wanted to do [with] that. But after the injury in January, I started to do better the things off the court.”