Carlos Alcaraz capped an unforgettable European summer with an Olympic silver medal after triumphs at the French Open and Wimbledon, but the Spaniard will be looking to clear his head following an epic collapse ahead of next week’s US Open.

The 21-year-old goes into the final Grand Slam of the year after suffering a stunning 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 second-round loss to French veteran Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open last week, describing it as the “worst match” of his career.

A frustrated Alcaraz destroyed his racket in the deciding set by repeatedly hitting it on the court and could not explain his dip in form and his uncharacteristic collapse.

“I couldn’t play. To be honest, I had trained really well… In the days before, I felt great, hit the ball away, moved well. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I felt like that. I couldn’t control myself,” he said.

“It’s really difficult to get anything good out of this game. That’s why I want to forget about it and try to move on… I’m going to go to New York and try to train well and get used to these courts.”

The humiliating loss to Cincinnati came for Alcaraz in his first hard-court match since reaching the quarterfinals in Miami in March, shortly after winning the Indian Wells title.

The world number three hopes to quickly return to that form and can draw strength from his fond memories of his matches at Flushing Meadows, where he made his Grand Slam breakthrough as a teenager in 2022 with the first of his four major titles.

The free-swinging Spaniard has never lacked confidence and despite his slip-up he remains a title contender at the August 26-September 8 event, but the resurgence of his main rivals Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner is likely to complicate his path.

Djokovic followed up his disappointing season by outclassing Alcaraz in the fight for the gold medal at the Paris Games, while Australian Open winner Sinner ignored his health problems and confirmed his qualities on the hard court with the title in Cincinnati.

Thwarting the duo could be the big challenge for Alcaraz, whose main goal is to complete an outstanding season by securing the year-end top spot for the second time.

“I’m focused on participating in every tournament and thinking about playing great tennis and getting a good result to get better in the race,” Alcaraz said.

“One of my main goals is to finish the year as number one.”