Carlos Alcaraz says he felt ‘guilty’ over injury lay-off as he ‘didn’t do the right things off court’

Carlos Alcaraz admitted after winning the Argentina Open that he felt “guilty” over his injury lay-off as he “didn’t do the right things off the court”.

He looked quickly back in the groove in Buenos Aires and said it was a “special moment” to win again.

“It’s really special. As I mentioned before, I struggled for four months,” he said in his on-court interview.

“I didn’t do the right things off the court and I felt a little bit guilty after the injury and struggled with that; it was not easy. To come here to my first tournament after four months, and to win my first title since the US Open is a really special moment for me.”

Alcaraz dropped just one set across four matches at the Argentina Open and now has a 30-4 win-loss record on clay since the start of 2022.

“I think that from the match against [Dusan] Lajovic, in the quarter-finals, it seemed that I had not stopped competing. I felt very well physically, very good tennis, very good on a mental level. It seemed like I had been playing for a long time, yes.

“I take a lot of positive things from here, from each game, and with a view to the South American tour I hope that what lies ahead will also be super positive.”

If Alcaraz wins in Rio this week he will move level with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic on 6,980 ranking points.

However, he will not become world No. 1 as Djokovic holds the advantage in the case of a tie, which is decided on most points accrued from Grand Slams, Masters, and the ATP Finals.

“I have a nice year ahead of me,” he said.

“I defend some title or others, very nice tournaments await me and I hope to enjoy them. As you said, I am fighting for No. 1 with Djokovic, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, they are the ones who are closest, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other players behind.

“There is a very wide range of possibilities and players who can win Grand Slams and who may be fighting for No. 1: I’m not going to start naming them because I don’t want to leave any of them out, but there are seven or eight players there who would deserve it and who have the level to be at the top.

“As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I try to enjoy myself. I love playing tennis. I love competing too, so it all comes together and it’s hard not to enjoy myself.

“I try to do new things, things that you may not be so used to in the circuit, I try to invent a little on the court and that makes me enjoy myself, smile and have a good time. That’s the goal.”

After the Rio Open, Alcaraz will head to the Mexican Open in Acapulco.

Indian Wells, which is the first ATP 1000 Masters event of the season, starts on March 8.