Carlos Alcaraz plans to take more breaks during tennis season - ESPN

NEW YORK — Feeling better than he expected after a four-month absence, Carlos Alcaraz is planning to take more breaks during the tennis season.

Alcaraz returned to play at the US Open after being sidelined since April because of a right wrist injury. The defending champion advanced to the fourth round Friday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Wu Yibing.

Alcaraz said his body feels good and he has had no setbacks after his matches.

«It feels like I've been competing the whole time. So I surprise myself the way that I'm feeling and the way that I'm recovering after every match,» Alcaraz said. «So I'm just really happy about it that I'm able to perform at my best after every match.»

Alcaraz said the injury that forced him to withdraw during the Barcelona Open wasn't caused by playing too much, so taking time off next year wouldn't be for physical reasons. Rather, he believes it would provide him with a mental benefit.

«I'm kind of a guy that doesn't need to play a lot of tournaments,» Alcaraz said, explaining he preferred to be «mentally healthy.»

«I just feel like you can have those moments of time to have a break,» he added, «to prepare well for tournaments, to prepare well mentally.»

He debuted a new look Friday, with a white shirt underneath his sleeveless shirt, and has a new celebration, mimicking shooting an arrow.

The wardrobe change was apparently because just one shirt was moving around too much in the previous match.

«I think I saw my nipple too much lately,» he said. «I felt like, you know, I could hide it for at least one match.»

The celebration choice came from his brothers.

«They made me choose to do the arrow or dancing, so I didn't have any doubts about choosing the arrow,» Alcaraz said. «So I will ask them