The progression of Spanish champion Carlos Alcaraz continues at the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. After winning the Buenos Aires tournament, the Spaniard also reached the final in Rio, where he wants to confirm his position and return to the top of the ATP rankings, equaling Serbian Novak Djokovic.
The Murcian suffered a lot of difficulties in the semifinals and prevailed in a comeback against the Chilean tennis player Nicolás Jarry, without a doubt one of the most fit at the moment. The number two in the world spoke at a press conference and addressed many issues.
Here are his words: “I’m proud of myself. I never imagined that I would start the season with two finals and after Buenos Aires now I have a great chance to move on and win in the final as well.” Eight games won in eleven days, an exhausting trip that could call into question the champion’s presence in next week’s Acapulco tournament, which begins in a few hours.
The defending champion in Brazil analyzed the match and continued: “The first set was very hard, I managed to come back when everything seemed lost, but then I didn’t play a good tiebreak. The important thing is that I had the ability to maintain a positive mentality at all times, and coming back from 0-40 in the first game of the second set was crucial for the development of the match.
Nicolás played a great game, there were times when he dominated and had the upper hand, it was hard for me to find solutions and to be honest I don’t know how I managed to finish the game and win.” Alcaraz experienced some pain as well as fatigue, and the tennis player accused: “The truth is that it is not something that worries me a lot.
Among tennis players it is normal to play with some pain and it is normal that playing all these days the pain increases.”
Mouratoglou talks about Alcaraz
Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou recently opined that Carlos Alcaraz will have to deal with serious pressure situations in the upcoming days.
“I think Carlos is someone that handles the pressure well but I think he’ll have pressure. Maybe, he doesn’t realise yet but when he will be there, having to defend titles, having been No. 1 in the world with all the expectations that come with it, he’ll feel it and it’s normal,” Mouratoglou said.
“I believe that he doesn’t think about the rankings and the points or that he will, …but more his status. I’m here, I won last year, I beat most of the best players in the world. So, I’m supposed to win. And how do I handle the fact that when I go on the court, everything but a win is a bad result? So this is difficult and this is what he will have to deal with a 100 percent.”
