Carlos Alcaraz: “I took extra pressure”

Carlos Alcaraz (No. 1) He said goodbye Roland Garros bitter taste The Spaniard, who was a strong favorite for the title, lost to Novak Djokovic (No. 3) They were 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 with physical issues, which reduced their performance on the field.

And the fallout continues. “Physically I was fine. The problem was that I held myself up with extra pressure. I didn’t prepare myself at all well for that match. The first two sets demanded a lot from me, and if we add the tensions I carried immediately afterwards, what everyone saw happened in the end,” he said in the final hours of L’Equipe.

Of course, we must remember, as soon as the match was over, the Spaniard entered a press conference and recounted in a thousand beats what happened on the roof: “I would say the first set and the second set were very intense and I started to get cramps in my arms. By the beginning of the third set I started having cramps in every part of my body, not just my legs. The arms, too, are each part of the legs. “It was very difficult for me to move in the third set and in the fourth set, let’s say I had little chance, but it was very difficult,” said the Murcia citizen.

“It started out very tense,” he said. “The tension in the first set and the second. It was a really intense couple of sets. Really good rallies, solid rallies, shots on the ball, sprints, rallies. It’s a combination of many things. But the main thing was the tension I had in the first two sets. It’s not easy to play against Novak. Of course, he is the legend of our sport. If someone says they entered the field without their nerve playing against Novak, they are lying. Of course, playing a Grand Slam semi-final is nerve-wracking, but he’s facing Novak even more. this is the truth. Next time I face Novak, I hope I’m different, but the nerves will be there.”