Carlos Alcaraz heads to the US Open in his now-familiar role as chief challenger to defending champion Jannik Sinner and the Spaniard will be driven this year by the twin pursuit of Grand Slam glory and the world No 1 ranking.
The 22-year-old won a tour-leading sixth title of the season in Cincinnati on Monday after Sinner retired from the final with illness while trailing 0-5 in the opening set and the result has turned up the heat in the rankings race ahead of the season's final major.
Health permitting, all signs point to the duo meeting again in a major final and completing a season-defining trilogy after Alcaraz beat Sinner in an epic five-setter to retain his French Open trophy in June before surrendering his Wimbledon crown to the top-ranked Italian last month.
Although Alcaraz has excelled on grass and clay, hardcourt consistency has eluded him on the grandest stage following his 2022 US Open triumph, but the five-time major champion is approaching the New York showpiece starting on Sunday with renewed belief.
"I'm feeling a lot of confidence, playing on a different surface," said Alcaraz, whose US Open triumph three years ago ensured that he became the youngest world No 1 since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973.
"New York is a place that I love playing in. It's where I got my first Grand Slam and I appreciate the love and support that I receive there every year that I go."
Having won five of the last seven events he has played in, the red-hot Alcaraz can reclaim the top ranking at the end of the US Open fortnight by outperforming Sinner, who will be defending 2 000 points as the champion.
A shock second-round defeat by Dutch outsider Botic van de Zandschulp last year means Alcaraz will defend 50 points but the Spaniard is determined to avoid another early defeat in his bid to split the majors with Sinner for a second straight year.
"It was disappointing, the level that I played there," Alcaraz said of his 2024 campaign.
"So this year, I really want to show good tennis, my best tennis, and try to go as far as I can, enjoy as much as I can the love there. We'll see how it's going to be."
The Cincinnati champion has gone on to capture the US Open trophy in the previous two years, with Novak Djokovic prevailing in 2023 before Sinner's success last time, and a philosophical Alcaraz is hoping to keep that run going.
"I'm accepting everything that's happening to me and trying to learn to be a better person and player from the experiences that I'm living in the last three to four months," he said on the Tennis Channel.
"I'm doing great things that I'm really proud of, so I'm going to try and do the same things in New York."