“How do you analyze this difficult victory (6-3, 6-7 [5]7-6 [4]) against Jan-Lennard Struff?
There were ups and downs during the match. I think I played well in the first set. At the start of the second set too, I took his serve. Then, things fell apart a little in terms of my service. He also started playing well. And in the third set too. When I served for the match, he broke me and had the opportunity to break me again (at 5-5) at the end of the third set. It was a roller coaster, lots of ups and downs. This is something I’m trying to improve, there’s still a lot of work to do.
How do you feel after this 14th victory in a row in Madrid, like Rafael Nadal did nine years ago?
It’s a great moment, obviously in a place as special as Madrid. Having such a long winning streak is nice. I’m also going to be part of the history of the tournament with Rafa, it’s wonderful. I will try to continue this series.
“I can’t think about anything other than winning the title”
You said before the tournament that you would be satisfied after three or four matches played. That’s it. What are you planning on now?
Now I’m signing to play three more matches (laughs). At the start of the tournament, I planned to play three or four matches, to see how my feelings were going to be. Now that I have played three matches, I can say that my feelings are very good. Right now, with the high level I practiced against Struff, I can’t think about anything other than winning the title.
You face Andrey Rublev on Wednesday in the quarter-finals. How do you see this duel?
He’s a good player, he has excellent tennis, very aggressive. I will fight, try to play my best tennis. I’ve played against him one or more times, I’ve seen him play a lot, I’ve trained with him a lot, I know more or less his level, I know more or less how to play him, but it’s going to be a match very difficult.
Rafael Nadal spoke about your shared dream of playing doubles together at the Olympics. Did you talk about it? He also mentioned that you might play another tournament before that. Could this happen?
We talked about it a little. We thought it would be great to play a tournament first, but it’s going to be difficult. On clay, the next tournaments will be Rome and Roland Garros, and I think these two tournaments are really important for us, and since we are not in our best physical condition, it will be difficult to play a tournament before the Games. But it could be great. As I have said many times, if everything goes well, we will play doubles at the Olympic Games. But until then, there are still many weeks. »
2024-04-30 20:15:49
#Carlos #Alcaraz #play #doubles #Olympics #Rafael #Nadal
