Things were planned differently, but what can you do when the weather isn't right.

In principle, Carlos Alcaraz should have posed for photos with the trophy he had won the day before on the Rockefeller Center observation deck.

These dates are part of the standard program for major tournaments and take place at attractive locations.

But then the cloudy weather made for a bad view.

But there are plenty of alternatives in New York, and so the ATP entourage decided without further ado: We'll do it in Times Square, it's not that noticeable if the sky isn't blue.

Shortly thereafter, Carlos Alcaraz, the new number one in men's tennis, stood on the sidewalk in front of twitching advertisements and tourists taking pictures and raised the trophy in the air.

evening of triumph

Something like that is now one of the tasks of the rather shy 19-year-old.

A good 30 hours after his big victory in Arthur Ashe Stadium, after the photos, various rounds of interviews continued in small circles.

He may have been the only one who didn't even take a moment to enjoy the view from the opulent Suite 3600 at the Intercontinental Times Square Hotel.

He was tired without appearing exhausted, friendly and modest - and he made an effort to give a good answer to all questions.

After all the formal actions associated with victories like at the US Open, he had eaten and celebrated with his team, family and friends at a friend's restaurant on the evening of the triumph.

Hours later, as he sat at the round table in the suite with a view, he said, "Honestly, I can't believe I finished number one and won the trophy."

One cannot say that there were gifts on the way to the first Grand Slam title: in round four against Marin Cilic he was behind with a break in the fifth set, in the quarter-finals against Jannik Sinner he had fended off a match point, in the He was a set behind in the semi-final against Frances Tiafoe and then had to save two set points in the title match against Casper Ruud.

Two of the games had lasted until after two in the morning, the longest even until just before three.

After the game against Sinner, says Alcaraz, he felt really bad.

"And I have no idea how I was able to continue playing at a high level after this quarter-final." But he was also able to do it because he had found the fun of the game again after minor slacks in the previous tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati.

Dream of a tennis pro

"I don't want to lose this," he says.

"I want to try to continue playing with a smile." But of course he knows that things won't get any easier.

What gave him food for thought was his colleague Daniil Medvedev's admission that he had no idea how great the pressure was to play as number one.

So he knows what could be coming, but he doesn't yet know how he's going to deal with it.

Did he ever want to be anything other than a tennis pro?

"No never.

From the first day I picked up a racquet.” It wasn't until he was 14 or 15 before he realized how hard it was, but even then he was sure he was going to do anything to make a dream come true to live.

The price of this comes with increasing age: less time for meals and evenings with friends, no more chance to roam the city unnoticed at home.

No time for love either?

"In principle yes," says Alcaraz and smiles a little crookedly, "but at the moment it doesn't matter."

Most inhabitants of the planet Tennis can very well imagine that the new star will shine for a very long time and very brightly, and he has this idea himself.

He doesn't want to set any limits and hopes to be number one for many years and win more Grand Slam titles.

There is time for the future later, in the here and now there is hardly any time to catch your breath.

After completing all the appointments in New York, Carlos Alcaraz made his way to Spain, where he was eagerly awaited by his team in Valencia.

The Spaniards play Korea, Serbia and Canada in Davis Cup Group B by the end of the week and he plans to play there.

Is there still fuel in the tank after the extremely strenuous time in New York?

"I can do it," he says, new first man in tennis, "I still have something."