ATP Tour

Alcaraz positive despite US Open defeat: ‘I leave the court with a smile’

The pain of narrow quarter-final defeat was not enough to dampen the positive sparks felt by Carlos Alcaraz after his 2026 US Open.

The Spaniard’s title defence at the hard-court major in New York came to an end in dramatic circumstances in the early hours of Wednesday morning, when Ben Shelton prevailed 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) in a four-hour, 28-minute thriller inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

While later acknowledging he had his chances to take victory, Alcaraz emphasised how happy he was with his overall showing in his first tournament back after missing more than four months due to a wrist injury.

“As I said before the tournament began, my expectation was to go there, compete, play in these kinds of matches, for me being healthy," Alcaraz told reporters after his clash with Shelton ended at 3:33 a.m. local time, the latest finish in US Open history. "It was close. It was close. So I'm just not going to be disappointed about not getting the win at the end. I'm just happy. I'm just proud about myself, about how I fought.

“After the third set, physically I was really tired, but I found a way to push myself up and to physically give extra. In the fifth set I just started to feel better and better, but I was playing against one of the [best]. He is a beast. Shelton is an unbelievable player, powerful. He just managed to play really, really well in every situation, so credit to him.

“But I leave the court happy. I leave the court with a smile, healthy, and this is what I needed.”

Alcaraz famously won a 10-point deciding-set tie-break against Jannik Sinner to clinch the Roland Garros crown in 2025, but the 23-year-old was unable to repeat that result even after forging a 5/3 lead against Shelton. The American lefty won seven of the next nine points to clinch victory in front of his home fans, and Alcaraz said he felt his American’s trademark booming serve had been key in the final minutes of the match.

“The serve is a really good weapon in these kinds of situations, but sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” the No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings said. “I remember the last [10-point] tie-break that I played, it was in Paris. It was an unbelievable game that I played in that moment. This time, when you are trying to fight and trying to overcome all the problems you might have physically and obviously when he is serving, he puts a lot of pressure on you.

“You are thinking about, ‘Alright, try to put the return in’. It's an unknown if you are going to play the point or if he's going to get a free point with the serve. I think in these moments he takes a lot of advantage with the serve. Not any excuse, but I would say this is an important weapon in those moments.”

Despite his defeat, Alcaraz leaves New York with a healthy 26-4 record for the season, a tally which includes his title run at January’s Australian Open. The Spaniard remains third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is in a good position to qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals for the fifth consecutive year.