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Carlos Alcaraz revealed the one mistake that left a bone in his throat despite clinching the doubles win in the Laver Cup opening round. The Spaniard paired with Jakub Mensik and played against Taylor Fritz and Alex Michelsen, trouncing them in straight sets to add points on Team Europe's scoreboard.
Carlos Alcaraz secured his sixth title at the 2025 US Open, just days before appearing on the San Francisco court for the eighth edition of the Laver Cup, co-founded by Roger Federer. He was scheduled to play his first men’s doubles match since the 2024 Davis Cup, this time partnering with Jakub Mensik of Czechia.
The Spaniard and his partner did not face a breakpoint, with the former showing phenomenal skills at the net and the latter playing from the baseline. Team Europe went up to 3-1 against the opponents after the first day of the men's only event. However, Carlos Alcaraz was not pleased with missing an easy volley at 40-all, a great opportunity for him to close out the game.
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"I f**ked it up. I mean, that easy volley that I missed after my partner made that run, but the most easy volley that I had, I just miss it. It was a volley at 40-All. They were serving. I feel bad, to be honest, but you know, it is my first doubles, I would say, since Davis Cup last year. I felt a little bit lost sometimes. Sometimes I just had to be closer to the net. Like, for example, in that point I didn't, but yeah, I mean, today were great points in the doubles," he said in a post-match press conference.
Alcaraz will go head-on with Fritz in the singles match next.
Carlos Alcaraz shared his take on being considered the greatest ambassador of tennis after Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic
Carlos Alcaraz broke onto the upper echelon of men's tennis at an early age and earned the top ranking in 2022, after winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open. He racked up six major wins since then and recently regained the top rank in September after losing it to Djokovic and Jannik Sinner in the years in between.
Loved for his powerful gameplay and extraordinary skills on the court, the Spaniard is often considered the player carrying forward the legacy of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic. However, he has to believe otherwise since his goal was never to be the next great ambassador but to enjoy tennis and bring more people to enjoy the sport:
"Not really. I don't think about being the best ambassador for tennis and have the pressure to do it. I think we all, tennis player in general, are ambassadors of tennis, just to do great the tennis and get the people to watch tennis."
He added:
"I don't feel the pressure at all. I'm thinking about myself, about enjoy as much as I can every time that I step on the court, that I go to the tournaments. I love when I see the people enjoy watching tennis. For me that's the most important feeling. That's all I try to do."
Carlos Alcaraz's Asian hard-court season will start with the ATP 500 Tokyo, followed by the Shanghai Masters 1000 and Six Kings Slam.
