Carlos Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open and during a recent interview, Alexander Zverev spoke about his triumph.
The German was close to lifting his maiden major in the Flushing Meadows two years ago but despite leading in the final, he was stopped by his very good friend Dominic Thiem. Due to his injury, Zverev couldn't be present at the 2022 US Open and also Novak Djokovic missed the last Grand Slam of the season.
Rafael Nadal was struggling with an injury and Daniil Medvedev, who was the defending champion also wasn't 100%. Therefore, Carlos Alcaraz, who had an incredible season used his chance as he defeated Casper Ruud in the final.
"It's not really surprising. I played against him for the first time in Acapulco in 2021. I already said: 'He's going to be crazy, he's going to be an incredible player.' To be honest he is too. There were a lot of factors at play, Novak wasn't at the US Open, Rafa maybe wasn't at 100 percent."
"Daniil after his back injury and surgery wasn't quite where he was either last year with his tennis. So he took his chance. Hats off! He was the best player in New York. He proved that cold," Alexander Zverev said in an interview with Eurosport.
Despite stating that the conditions were favouring the young Spaniard, Zverev didn't forget to show how he respects the youngest world no. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings.
"Carlos Alcaraz, a teenager, wins the US Open. It's beautiful for tennis. You can see that the new generation can play very good tennis and that tennis is in good hands. But it was a strange year because Alcaraz finished the year as World No. 1 with 6,500 points. Last year I had over 8,000 points and was number three in the world. It's been a weird year in that way," he said.
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