Alcaraz: ‘I don’t know what was I was thinking!’

Carlos Alcaraz was left ruing a few “key moments” he failed to capitalise on in his match against Alexander Zverev at the Nitto ATP Finals. The defeat at the hands of the German, which means he is almost certainly knocked out of Turin, tipped their Lexus ATP Head2Head in favour of his opponent (6-5). The Murcia native’s focus will now be on the Davis Cup Final 8, where he will join Rafael Nadal to represent Spain.

“The tie-break was pretty close, with a lot of points I could have played better,” lamented the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “At 6/5, I don’t know what I was thinking when I tried to volley that ball... That’s tennis for you; you have to make choices in less than a second and sometimes you get it wrong.

“Losing the set in that way hurts,” he admitted. “In the second, I was at 0/40 after several stupid points and I was in trouble. I have to learn from these moments because I didn’t make the most of the chances I had.”

Despite starting the week off battling illness, Alcaraz managed to get through his days in Italy with the help of antibiotics, rest and a nose strip to help him breathe (which he wore again in his match against Zverev) and a lot of self-belief that he could turn a situation around and reach the semi-finals, as he did in 2023.

“It was a difficult week for me, but it’s a privilege to be here among the eight best players in the world,” Alcaraz said. “I’m going to learn from what has happened. I played good tennis, but today I faced one of the best. I’m disappointed with the defeat,” he continued.

“One of my goals is to reach this part of the year feeling fresher. I was better than last year, but not good enough. I want to be as fresh as possible mentally and enjoy every one of my matches.”

How does he do that?

“It’s going to be impossible to reach this part of the year feeling fresh, but I have to play my best tennis even if I’m mentally tired,” the Spaniard explained. “That’s what good players do. How can I improve it? By practising every day with as much desire as possible. I have an amazing team and they have a very clear vision. They can help me and guide me well for this part of the season.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]