Carlos Alcaraz lifted his sixth Grand Slam title at the US Open on Sunday and then decided to withdraw from Spain’s upcoming Davis Cup qualifier tie against Denmark. The world No. 1 was expected to represent his country this weekend in Marbella.
But Alcaraz and Spain’s No. 2 player, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, have now pulled out and been replaced by Jaume Munar, Roberto Carballes Baena, and Pablo Carreno Busta. The newly-crowned US Open champion has now suggested that it would have been “too selfish” for him to play so soon after winning in New York.
Alcaraz would have had a very quick turnaround to get to Marbella and start training with the team following his US Open triumph. The Spaniard has been playing non-stop over the last few weeks, winning the Cincinnati Open before heading to Flushing Meadows.
He also contested the US Open’s revamped mixed doubles competition the day after his Cincinnati final, and then won seven matches in a row, dropping just one set and getting broken only three times to leave as the men’s singles champion.
The work didn’t stop there – Alcaraz had a press tour to complete on Monday morning alongside women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka.
And he confirmed he would no longer represent Spain this coming weekend in the Davis Cup, believing some of his countrymen deserved the opportunity more than he did.
“I feel very bad, but I’m on a very demanding tour, both mentally and physically, with a lot of matches, and I don’t have time to get home and prepare in the best way possible for the Davis Cup,” the world No. 1 told Cadena SER.
“I think that would be too selfish, and other players can do better than me. I need rest to face the rest of the season and, above all, to be mentally calm to assimilate everything I’ve achieved on this tour.”
Alcaraz is still signed up to compete in the Laver Cup – a Ryder Cup-style team tournament co-created by Roger Federer – at the end of next week in San Francisco.
Then he is set to make his tournament debut at the ATP 500 in Tokyo, before heading to Shanghai for the Masters 1000 event. But Alcaraz’s real goal is the Australian Open in January, where he can complete the career Grand Slam.
“Australia is always the main goal before starting the year. Therefore, I train hard and do preseason to try to start the year in the best possible way,” the 22-year-old added.
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