ATP Pro Shares Interesting Observations After Carlos Alcaraz Clash: “He Has Whole Alphabet of Plans”

Carlos Alcaraz has never lifted a title in the two Masters 1000 events on the North American hard-court swing before the US Open.

ATP Pro Shares Interesting Observations After Carlos Alcaraz Clash: “He Has Whole Alphabet of Plans”

Carlos Alcaraz (Image via ATP/X)

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The Cincinnati Masters is underway, and Carlos Alcaraz is bidding to win his first title here after being denied the same by Novak Djokovic in the summit clash in 2023. In his opening round, Damir Dzumhur took the second set off him, but Alcaraz eventually regained the momentum by quickly ending the third set in his favor.

Before that match, the Bosnian ace wrote an essay on the ATP Tour‘s website about how he nearly died due to acute pancreatitis, how he gets motivated by seeing Novak Djokovic, Gael Monfils, and Stan Wawrinka‘s efforts to prolong their careers. Dzumhur also lauded Alcaraz after playing him for the first time in the third round of this year’s Roland Garros.

It is an unbelievable memory for me, one of my favourite from tennis. Court Philippe-Chatrier had one of the best atmospheres that I’ve been a part of in my life and when I won the third set, the crowd was going crazy.

After Alcaraz won the first two sets, the 33-year-old took the third set off him, but it was not enough to beat Alcaraz, who later reached the final and beat Jannik Sinner to defend his title.

I lost the match, but felt such special emotions competing on such a memorable stage against one of the best players in the world, who probably will be one of the best players in history. He has a plan A, B, C and D, and probably the whole alphabet of plans that he can play. He’s one of the fastest players and has so many variations in his game that he can execute on the highest level.

Alcaraz now holds a 2-0 head-to-head lead over Dzumhur. The latter is a three-time titlist in singles, last winning a title at the 2017 St. Petersburg Open by defeating Fabio Fognini. Dzumhur last reached a final at the 2017 Winston-Salem Open, which he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut. He hasn’t yet lifted a title in the ATP 500 or above category.

Carlos Alcaraz explains the importance of having free time

Carlos Alcaraz has often criticized the 11-month calendar, urging the ATP to give more free time to the players so that they can properly recharge their batteries before starting the next challenge. Alcaraz was one of the several top players who skipped the Canadian Open to focus on rest and recovery after continuously playing on the clay and grass swing.

Carlos Alcaraz CIncinnati Open 2025
Carlos Alcaraz (image via Instagram/Carlos Alcaraz)

After his opening round win, the 22-year-old was asked by Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj how he spent his time after Wimbledon. Alcaraz then once again explained the importance of having more time off the court.

For me, it has been great days after Roland Garros, my days in Ibiza, and then I came back stronger to the grass season, title (Queen’s), and making the final, and then yeah, I had a week completely off. I went to southern Spain, which was great, and then two weeks at home were unbelievable.

At present, Alcaraz will only be focusing on winning the Cincinnati Masters. The second seed will next be locking horns with Hamad Medjedovic, who beat Aleksandar Kovacevic and Tallon Griekspoor before scheduling the match against the Murcia native.

Last year in Cincinnati, Gael Monfils knocked him out in the second round. This only means he doesn’t have enough points to defend, and winning the tournament will take him closer to dethroning Jannik Sinner from the top of the rankings table. Alcaraz last year suffered a shock second-round exit at the US Open- the tournament where he lifted his career’s first Grand Slam title in 2022.

Also read: Daniil Medvedev Trying to Look up to Iga Swiatek Amid Title Drought: “Playing Much Better Than Me”