After a heartbreaking loss in the gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics, Carlos Alcaraz went on a vacation with his close ones. He perhaps needed this break to be back in a better shape both mentally and physically to kick-start the North American hard-court swing. However, now he’s back and ready to roar yet again! Currently, the Spaniard is in Cincinnati to take part in the Western and Southern Open. Last year, he reached the finals here but was yet again defeated by a familiar rival, Novak Djokovic in that match. He literally gifted that match to the Serb, and the Spaniard is still gutted by that result, but what went wrong that day?

During a recent interview ahead of the 2024 Cincinnati Masters, Alcaraz said he’s excited to be back on the hard courts and he can’t wait to kick-start his campaign in Cincinnati. However, while recalling his memories from last year’s campaign, the 21-year-old said that although he snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Djokovic in the finals, he feels that loss was very helpful for his career. It was perhaps one of the best matches in the history of the sport, filled with insane shots, especially at the end. Djokovic rallied from a set and a break down against then world no.1, Alcaraz and saved a championship point at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break to clinch his record-breaking 39th ATP Masters 1000 title.

The 3-hour 49-minute match ended in 5-7,7-6(7),7-6(4) in favor of the Serb.  This was one of longest best of three set finals in the history of the ATP Tour since 1990. Reflecting on what he learned from that loss, Alcaraz said, “I mean right now it’s not about how to hit the forehand, how to hit the backhand. It’s about how to deal with some situations, the way I played in tough moments, I remember that I set and break up for two and probably I go down a little bit my level and it can happen again.”

He feels that’s why in some situations it’s very important to know about when to play more aggressively and when to wait for his moments a bit more. These tiny things can make a huge impact on the game at times. So according to Alcaraz, learning was more kind of how to deal with some situations than anything else. This year he has become more mature and has already won two Grand Slam titles. Now his goal is to end the year as world number one, but what was Djokovic’s and Alcaraz’s reaction after that epic final last year?

The moment when Carlos Alcaraz reminded Novak Djokovic of Rafael Nadal

With temperatures soaring high, and facing an opponent who is reluctant to give up, it became a really tough challenge for Djokovic. He later on claimed that it was “one of the toughest and most exciting matches I was ever part of“. Right from the start to the end of that match, there was plenty of excitement. Djokovic later admitted that these are the kinds of moments and matches that he continues to work for day in and day out. He even said that the tenacity that Alcaraz showed in the 2023 Cincinnati Masters finals, forced him to recall his fond memories of playing against Rafael Nadal.

The way they had to earn every single point, was truly a bliss to watch for all the tennis lovers. Carlitos successfully managed to impress the ‘Serbinator’ in that match. Even Alcaraz reflected the same about Djokovic, “It’s amazing playing against you, sharing the court with you, learning from you.” The Spaniard admitted that he had learned a lot from the champion in that match and congratulated him on his success. This year, with Djokovic already pulling out his name from the event, do you think Alcaraz can win the title in Cincinnati?