No, Carlos Alcaraz won’t be getting a tattoo to commemorate his Olympic silver medal

CINCINNATI—Carlos Alcaraz is only two weeks removed from his first Olympic podium, but don’t expect to see the former world No. 1 showing off his silver medal at the Cincinnati Open.

“It’s at home!” he revealed at his Media Day press conference on Sunday. “It is close to Wimbledon and Roland Garros trophies in the living room. It’s over there.”

Alcaraz has had plenty to celebrate throughout a winning summer, winning back-to-back major titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He commemorated first three Slam victories with tattoos, , is the 21-year-old be considering a design inspired by his second-place finish in men’s singles?

“No, because I didn’t get the gold!” laughed Alcaraz. “If I could have won the gold medal, I would have gotten a tattoo.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion was emotional after falling just short of gold in Paris, losing a hard-fought final to Novak Djokovic, but Alcaraz was far more positive ahead of his return to action in Cincy, where he also lost a tough final to Djokovic in 2023.

“I always want to be better, and I always think I can do better,” he mused. “I think I had a great summer…obviously I wanted the gold medal. After the matches I win or lose, I like to find the bad things I did and try to be better in the next match and not make the same mistakes. That’s what I saw in Paris, that I couldn’t deal with this situation as good as I wanted and that’s what I was thinking after the match.

“Obviously nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future, if I’m going to reach the final again. For example, Rafael Nadal won the gold medal in 2008 and he couldn’t make the final again in the Olympic Games. I’m probably going to have another chance in the future, but I’m not sure about it.”

Sometimes when we were down, he was there in a positive way, talking to me like, ‘Right now, they are going to feel the pressure and we have to stay there and put balls in to get them in trouble. Some situations you don’t see or it’s difficult to see, he sees very clear. Carlos Alcaraz on playing doubles with Rafael Nadal

A (no pun intended) silver lining from Paris? His time playing doubles with Rafael Nadal. Playing together for the first time, “Nadalcaraz” made it to the quarterfinals, and though they fell just short of the medal rounds, Alcaraz learned a lot from sharing the court with his childhood idol.

“It was a great experience, talking with Rafa off the court, knowing each other much better off the court,” said the Spaniard, beaming. “Playing doubles together was great, something I will never forget, for sure. I learned a lot talking to him, on court and off the court, as well. I think we played great tennis in doubles even if we are not used to playing doubles very often. A little bit disappointing in the end because we thought we could do even better but in general, talking about myself, a dream came true for me, playing alongside Rafa.

“Sometimes when we were down, he was there in a positive way, talking to me like, ‘Right now, they are going to feel the pressure and we have to stay there and put balls in to get them in trouble. Some situations you don’t see or it’s difficult to see, he sees very clear.”

Alcaraz is the No. 2 seed in Cincinnati, and will open against either Gaël Monfils or an on-fire Alexei Popyrin, who is currently playing the semifinals of the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montréal.