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The top seed won the U.S. Open in September and
became the youngest player to top the world rankings at 19 years
old, but suffered an abdominal issue at the Paris Masters in
November before pulling out of the Australian Open with a leg
injury.
Having been leapfrogged by Melbourne winner Novak Djokovic,
Alcaraz began his quest to regain the top spot with his debut
appearance at Buenos Aires where he lost only one set in his
four matches.
"It's been a great week for me, a dream week after a long time
with no competition. Coming to Buenos Aires and showing the
level I showed is amazing and really special. It has been an
emotional week too," Alcaraz said.
The Spaniard's seventh ATP title and first since Flushing
Meadows last year was never in doubt despite a minor blip in the
second set against Norrie where he dropped his serve.
"I had the chance to win the match at 5-3 and he broke my serve
easily," Alcaraz said.
"But I knew I had to be calm and try to wait for my moment and
it came at 6-5. It was a great match."
Alcaraz, who moved to within 590 points of Djokovic in the
rankings, said he was happy with his level.
"I felt very comfortable playing the final," Alcaraz said.
"I knew it was going to be really difficult. I started really
focused on what I had to do at the beginning, my game, my level.
This is the level that I have to play in finals."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
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