Carlos Alcaraz recently spoke up about his need to have time for himself to spend with his family and friends despite his love for tennis. The ATP World No. 2 is currently participating in the Cincinnati Open, where he has progressed to the third round.
On Sunday, August 10, Alcaraz featured in his first competitive outing since his loss to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final. As the No. 2 seed in the men’s singles main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, the Spaniard received a first-round bye and got his campaign underway with a hard-fought 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 second-round win over Damir Dzumhur.
In the aftermath of his victory, Carlos Alcaraz caught up with Tennis Channel‘s Prakash Amritraj for a chat. Here, the five-time Major champion talked about how the grueling tennis schedule makes it necessary for him to have breaks in between.
Trending
"I love having time for me if I have to be honest. I always say that's what you are working for as well, you know? Okay, I love playing tennis and I love when I step on the court, but sometimes it's too many days in a row, too many weeks in a row. So I just love to take my time off just with my family, with my friends, just at home, doing nothing at all," Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz also touched on how the breaks allow him to reset and refocus on his tennis goals. Going on to touch on his weeks away from the sport following his French Open and Wimbledon campaigns this year, the 22-year-old added:
"For me it's needful to come back stronger and hungry, to catch the racket and hit some balls. 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 was unbelievable."
Carlos Alcaraz to square off against Hamad Medjedovic next at Cincinnati Open
The three-set win over Damir Dzumhur helped Carlos Alcaraz set up a third-round clash against Hamad Medjedovic at the 2025 Cincinnati Open. Medjedovic, unseeded at the tournament, has so far registered straight-set victories in both the matches he has played.
Medjedovic ousted No. 26 seed Tallon Griekspoor from the event in the second round, which should serve as sufficient reason for Alcaraz to be cautious heading into his third-round encounter against the 22-year-old from Serbia. It is set to mark the pair's maiden ATP Tour-level match.
The winner of the contest between the Spaniard and the Serb will go on to face either lucky loser Luca Nardi or No. 16 seed Jakub Mensik in the fourth round.
