US OPEN

September 6, 2026

Carlos Alcarza

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/T. Paul

6-4, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Carlos, welcome. Congratulations. Moving on to the quarters. Questions.

Q. Just how good did your level feel out there? I mean, you and Tommy play a lot of spectacular points. Just how good were you feeling being able to win so many of them and to win that match in pretty dominant fashion?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, really happy to see where my level is right now. You know, beating Tommy Paul is always great feedback to see where you are, and just really happy about everything I've done today.

You know, I think I returned pretty well. I saw, you know, really well the game today, what I had to do in every moment, using the right things, you know, in every moment. So I just really happy.

Hopefully, you know, keep it going. Yeah, I just had to be hard with myself and then just, you know, saying again, the serves can be better, but just happy, and I'm going to enjoy this moment, for sure.

Q. Can you give us an insight what you're doing when you're not playing tennis this tournament, what you're doing on your days off? I presume golf has been on the back burner because of the wrist? Is that right?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah, I've been really focused on the recovery with my team, with myself, you know, doing the right things, you know, off the court trying to be healthy and in a good shape for the next round.

Those days, if I'm practicing or not, I'm trying to be chill and focus on the next round. So golf in this year isn't an option.

Q. I wanted to ask about what you were saying a few rounds ago the other night about intending to take longer, more breaks from the sport in future. I just wondered if you've thought about the specifics of that, when they might be, how long for, kind of what your ideal schedule might look like in the future?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I don't know. It depends. You know, tennis can be so unpredictable, because you don't know how many matches you're going to win, if the tournaments are going to last one match or seven.

So you never know. I mean, it's going to be depends on how I feel physically, how I feel mentally, if I need long breaks at the beginning of the year, in the middle, or at the end.

So we will see, because I really want it to last -- my career's really long, for the next 10 or 15 years -- so I just really want to take care of my mental health and my body.

Right now, I just wanted to still playing, you know, in such a long career, so right now, I don't know. It's going to be depends, but what I'm sure about is, like, I'm going to take it.

Q. You mentioned on court about what you need to do when you are returning serve today. How has your approach to that changed at all with the break or coming back here? How are you thinking about your return of serve at this tournament?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Do you mean my serve or how I just expected to return with my serve, or what do you mean?

Q. How you return your serve. How you return the opponent's serve, your approach to it going back, coming up, putting pressure. What are you trying to do?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I'm trying to make them think a little bit. Sometimes when you are in, or you just take in one position, you don't make them think, you know, about the serve. It's kind of you're going point after point, and you're thinking just about your serve, not about the opponent.

When you change the position of the return, if you're going back, if you're going, you know, into the court, you make them feel or think a little bit. So you just, in a way, you're putting pressure on him.

It happens to me sometimes when I'm serving, so I'm seeing some opponents changing a little bit. It's kind of you think about or trying to choose the right serve every time. That's what I'm thinking about, you know, moving a little bit around the court when they're serving, trying to be the best position.

Q. After the match against Wu, you said that your forehand, you made a few too many errors there, and I saw you on the practice court after hitting a lot of forehands. I'm curious just what felt a bit off then, and what did you try to correct, I guess? Also, how helpful is it to, after a match, to get back on the practice court if you want to work on something?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I would say for us, for tennis player, it's really important how you go to bed. So in terms of feeling.

When you just win the match or especially when you win the match, but you don't feel like you've been hitting well the ball, it is better to, you know, go back to the practice court and then just hit it, like, for 5, 10 minutes just to hit some balls when you're not nervous or you're not thinking about anything else, just hitting the ball, and finish or leave, you know, the site with a good feeling hitting the ball coming to the next round.

So that's what I felt last -- the other day. Just left happy with my feeling when I just left the practice court. And then coming here, I think everybody saw the difference about my forehand.

Q. In the next round you could play Shelton or Tsitsipas. Would you, if you don't mind, speak about first Shelton and then about Tsitsipas?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I mean, we've been seeing Tsitsipas playing really well lately, so I think he's recovering the confidence. You know, he's such a really dangerous player when he's at his best. You know, great forehand, great movement. So it's going to be complicated if I'm going to play against him.

Obviously the head-to-head seems like, you know, I dominate every match when I played against him, but it's never going to be easy when I'm playing against him, so I've got to be ready.

If it is Shelton, really powerful player. I think he use the crowd, the people behind him, especially when he's playing here at home.

I'm excited about playing the quarterfinal, either if it is against one or other. So I've got to be ready. I'm going to watch it, and I'll be ready for that.