Carlos Alcaraz: "In just a year, I'm a totally different player"

Carlos Alcaraz scored his first ever victory at the Italian Open on Saturday, downing compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the 2023 edition. With the victory, the Spaniard assured himself of the World No. 1 spot -- his second time regaining the spot from Novak Djokovic.

Following his maiden Grand Slam triumph at the 2022 US Open, the 20-year-old became the youngest ever top-ranked player in ATP history, a position he held onto until the end of the year. However, he was replaced by Djokovic after the Serb won his 22nd Grand Slam at the Australian Open at the start of this year.

The two exchanged positions once again during the Sunshine Double, with Alcaraz becoming World No. 1 after his title win at Indian Wells and Djokovic taking it back after the Spaniard failed to defend his title at the Miami Open.

Speaking at his press conference in Rome, Carlos Alcaraz shed light on what changes he has undergone since that title run at Flushing Meadows, declaring that he has grown up a lot and that he feels like a totally different player now.

"I grew up a lot in just a year. I have more experience. I played great matches. I grew up thanks to that a lot. I more mature as well. I would say in just a year I'm a totally different player. I read the match better than last year. I would say this year is totally different for me," Carlos Alcaraz said.

Touching on his match against Ramos-Vinolas, Alcaraz stated that he felt "great" despite the tough conditions and was grateful to have the Italian crowd supporting him in his first ever match in Rome.

"Well, I feel great. Even the conditions was tough... Apart of that, yeah, I felt the love from the people. As I said on court, it was great to have a lot of people, even a really tough condition, really tough day, waiting the whole day. It was great to play my first match here in Rome," Alcaraz said.

"I handled it really, really well, I stayed calm watching some videos" - Carlos Alcaraz on how he handled the rain delay at the Italian Open

Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2023 - Day Six

The Italian Open was hit by a rain delay on Saturday, meaning most of the players, including Carlos Alcaraz, had to spend more hours anxiously waiting for their matches to begin.

The World No. 2 acknowledged that it was "tough" to wait, but was proud of the way he handled it -- staying calm by watching Moto GP videos with his team. Regardless, the Spaniard was glad he got to play and get his first win at the Italian Open under his belt sooner rather than later.

"It was tough 'cause I really want to play the match. Wait a lot 'cause the rain, it was tough for me. But I handled it really, really well. I stayed calm watching some videos. I watched today the Moto GP with my coach and a friend of mine that is here, as well. I just took a really, really calm the waiting," Carlos Alcaraz said. "But is tough, you know, because I didn't know if I was able to play or not. Finally I played, and I'm glad to do that."