Carlos Alcaraz was pretty serious when he said, “This tournament is super special for me,” after becoming the King of New York again after three years. “It’s a privilege to be a part of this tournament. I just feel at home, feel the energy and feel the love, and I’m just trying to play my best for you guys. You made everything easy.” Despite playing against his toughest opponent and archrival Jannik Sinner for 2 hours and 42 minutes in the US Open final, the Spaniard crossed the finish line with a dominating performance. Apart from clinching the sixth slam title, he snatched the top spot back from Sinner.

Days after his triumphant run at the Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz has once again reiterated thoughts on that epic victory that enabled him to dethrone the Italian “machine” from the top spot. The Spaniard is set to appear at the Laver Cup this week in San Francisco. Before kicking off his campaign for Team Europe, however, Alcaraz made his feelings clear on his US Open glory and what it really means to him. “My whole life, I’ve been working so hard to be in this position,” he revealed. “Taking care of the tennis, resting well, everything; working on and off the court the best I can. It’s not an easy path.”

Mentioning his work ethic, the World No.1 underlined, “You have to work 100 percent every day. Even on the days you don’t want to train, you have to go for it. It’s been a really long, tough path, but really beautiful, as well.” He will now look to replicate his racket skills shown at the US Open at the Laver Cup too. After all, he’s part of a winning squad.

Apart from Alcaraz, Team Europe also features the likes of Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli. However, it seems like their team captain is backing the Spaniard more than anyone to play a crucial role.

Former ATP pro and French icon Yannick Noah has lauded Alcaraz before Team Europe’s three-day campaign at the Chase Centre. So what does he really think about the 22-year-old’s on-court talent?

Team Europe captain calls Carlos Alcaraz “near perfect”

It appears Carlos Alcaraz is an unstoppable force right now, and he’s one player who can do no wrong. Especially when it comes to wreaking havoc with his racket in front of any rival whatsoever. It became evident from his unparalleled display of mind-boggling strokes against Sinner in that one-sided Arthur Ashe final. Sinner could win just one set as Alcaraz tamed him sooner than expected.

One can get an idea of the Spaniard’s dominance against Sinner from the fact that he hit 10 aces throughout the match. In comparison, the Italian had only two. Not only that, Alcaraz hit a whopping 42 winners, whereas his archrival’s tally failed to move past 21. Even the first serves were better from Alcaraz (61 percent inside) than Sinner, who was able to hit only 48 percent of his first serves accurately.

Ahead of the Laver Cup this week, Team Europe’s Captain Yannick Noah, made an honest statement. He believes that Alcaraz’s blistering form is at such a level at the moment that he appears to be “near perfect”. Explaining his point, Noah added, “His game is amazing for 22. So fast, he attacks, forehand, backhand, he’s quick. Mentally, he’s extremely strong, he comes in.”

In 2024, Alcaraz led Team Europe to its fifth overall Laver Cup title after besting Team World’s Taylor Fritz in a deciding encounter. It will be intriguing to see what he does this time around.