Carlos Alcaraz Reflects on Pressure and Hopes to Face Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon Final

Carlos Alcaraz may have felt like a slight favorite against Novak Djokovic at Roland-Garros, and certainly believed he was capable of beating him. But the Spaniard probably put too much pressure on himself and his body cracked in the semi-finals of the Parisian Grand Slam. Victim of cramps at the start of the third set, the current world number one could not achieve his goal.

Present at Wimbledon for only the third time in his career, the 20-year-old has this time decided to change his communication strategy. Present this Sunday at a press conference before his entry into contention on Tuesday against Jérémy Chardy, Carlos Alcaraz declared that even if his title won at Queen’s had given him a lot of confidence, the favorite for the final victory remains Novak Djokovic.

“I started Queen’s without expecting to win the tournament, and I won it. I feel very good to have played at such a level. Confidence has increased a lot on this surface. Yes, I come to Wimbledon with a lot of confidence, thinking that I can do well here. But it is obvious that for me the main favorite is Djokovic. It’s obvious.”

“But my expectations are still high. I think I will be able to put pressure on other players, even on Djokovic. All I can say is that I feel confident and ready to do good things here.”

Alcaraz “hopes to play” against Djokovic in the final

Despite his bad experience in the Roland-Garros semi-final against Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz still hopes to come up against the man with now 23 Grand Slam titles. During the media day at Wimbledon, the Spaniard spoke in particular about the difficulty of playing against the Serbian player, who puts constant pressure on the court.

“The hardest part is the pressure. I would say the pressure he puts on everyone. You know, not just me, everybody, to play at their best for three hours in a Grand Slam tournament. I speak in Grand Slam. I have to deal with it, but it’s something I really want. I hope to play a final here against him. But for me it’s probably the most difficult against Novak.”

Carlos Alcaraz was then asked to decipher the Serbian’s grass game.

“He does things very, very easily. He moves very well. He hits the ball very well, very clearly. He has a clean shot on both sides. It’s a mixture of everything. I would say it does nothing wrong. He always succeeds in everything he does. It’s really hard to find a weakness in his game.”