Reigning champ Carlos Alcaraz returns as fan-favourite

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz practises ahead of the US Open in New York on Sunday. Pic/AFP

Carlos Alcaraz wishes he could go a little more unnoticed as he tries to move around the home of the U.S. Open.

That's not possible, of course. New York is the last place to find quiet when you're the star of the show, and even at just 20 years old, it appears the Spaniard is already that in tennis.

He may not be the favorite of the oddsmakers despite being the defending champion - Novak Djokovic is back, after all - but he certainly seems to be a popular choice among fans. They will have to wait one more day to watch him. Alcaraz isn't on the schedule on Monday for the first day of play, when top-ranked Iga Swiatek opens her title defense in the afternoon and both 19-year-old Coco Gauff and Djokovic play at night.

Alcaraz is scheduled to play Dominik Koepfer on Tuesday night. "Well, my life changed a lot, a lot," Alcaraz said this week with a smile. "Probably it's a different life, talking about the way that I'm more, let's say, famous. A lot of people are starting to know my name after the US Open last year," Alcaraz said.

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