CCarlos Alcaraz has just made his debut in the Spanish Davis Cup team with victory. The Murcian, who yesterday left for Indian Wells, the first Masters 1,000, which begins next Thursday in the Coachella Valley, talks with MARCA about his recent success in Rio de Janeiro, his routines and his brilliant career .
Q. From the outside it seemed that you celebrated the victory in Rio more than your first title in Umag. Was it so?
R. It might be that he celebrated her a little longer. The fact that there were more people on the team bench, that my brother was also there, which made me especially excited, well, yes. It was the celebration that came out of me at the time. I took out everything that I had accumulated from the whole week for the many things we went through.
Q. Can you explain your celebration to me, which you defined as the Lupis’, with the gesture of putting on glasses.
R. It is a group of friends that we have and between us, as a joke, we call ourselves Lupas. It doesn’t make any sense, but we find it funny. They told me: ‘if you win, make the gesture’. And I did it.
Q. What was the first thing your coach Juan Carlos Ferrero told you after winning in Rio?
R. He congratulated me and that we have to continue training, that this has just begun, that this is nothing. The joke we have is that she told me: ‘You haven’t tied anyone yet and you have to keep your feet on the ground’.
P. One of the most unknown aspects of you is that you like to take a nap and play chess before games. Can you explain it to me?
R. That’s right. I was caught on camera at the Next Gen in Milan and in Rio I also slept because rest is important and even more so in such an intense week in which it rained and the games were delayed. Recovery was key and naps before games are for me. And chess helps me because you are concentrated, your head works…
I am more mature and I want to play with Nadal and Djokovic
Q. How does chess specifically help you to practice tennis?
R. It helps me to be faster mentally, to watch plays, to see the move you want to make, the strategy… To be focused all the time. In chess, like tennis, you get lost for a moment and the game is already mixed up. In this aspect they are two quite similar disciplines.
P. Your brother Álvaro debuted as your ‘sparring’. Is it level?
R. I know that it measures up and it was reflected with my result in Ro if it measures up or not. My first training there was with him and I ended up winning.
Q. Do you sign him to train with him for the rest of the season?
R. The problem is that my brother has things to do in Murcia. I would love for him to come. he l he knows that in good tournaments at any time he can come with me.
P. You have beaten the precociousness of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic in terms of sneaking into the ‘top20’. What does that data tell you?
R. It tells me that I am on the right path, the path that Juanqui and all my team guide me. We are all heading in the same direction and these kinds of records tell me to keep going and not get sidetracked.
P. Before starting this season you openly confessed that your goal was the ‘top15’. He’s pretty much done it already. Is it time to set a more ambitious goal?
R. I still have five places left and when I get it I know we will look for new goals for the end of the year. Obviously I dream of finishing in the top 10.
P. Do you want to face tennis players like Nadal or Djokovic to really know where you are?
R. I know that I want to face Djokovic and play with Rafa again. I am more mature and I manage my emotions better if I watch the match I played with Nadal in Madrid. If I play with him, it will be different. They may beat me up, but I think it will be different.
Ferrero tells me that he is with his feet on the ground, that I have not yet tied with anyone
Q. Nadal has just won his twenty-first ‘Grand Slam’ in Australia. Did he swallow the finale whole?
R. I was glued to the television. In the fifth set I hadn’t eaten and was home alone with my brother. During breaks I went to the kitchen to prepare food for my brother. When they started I would run to the TV and so on all the time. I couldn’t miss a point.
Q. You finally got your driver’s license, something you’ve been looking forward to for the past year. For you, the feeling was like winning a title?
R. Very nearly. Honestly, I don’t know when I was more nervous, in the car test or in the Rio final with Schwartzman.
P. Do you know the whim in the form of a car that is going to be given?
R. I don’t know yet, I have no idea. I have seen cars that I would love to be able to buy some day, but it is not the time.
P. In Australia there was a lot of talk about his physical change, his arms, his muscles. Do you also notice that transformation?
R. I feel much better physically, stronger, more prepared, more everything. The physique is important to know that you are prepared to endure demanding matches. It is something that we have sought with the whole team.
Sometimes I look in the mirror and I say to myself: “Joe, what a change”
Q. Are you one of those people who looks in the mirror and says: ‘how strong am I?’
R. ever yes The typical thing is that I go to the physio and I see myself in the mirror and I say to myself: ‘Joe, what a change.’
Q. What have you stopped eating to be so defined?
R. I have not stopped eating anything because I was never a boy who ate badly. What I have improved is supplementation, being more aware of how important it is to eat well. It has been one of the keys to my physical change.
Q. What do you like more to play with sleeveless or sleeveless shirt?
R. Without sleeves I feel very comfortable. In fact, the two ATP tournaments I have won I have played without sleeves. I am comfortable with both.
Q. Rafael Nadal was the leader of a generation of Spanish athletes that included Pau Gasol, Fernando Alonso… Do you see yourself as the leader of a new generation?
R. Buttonhole. Fortunately, in Spain we have great athletes, some who are legends, and others who are at a spectacular level in all sports. For me it would be good to be part of this new generation of Spanish athletes.
Q. Do you see yourself as a candidate to win a ‘Grand Slam’ title this season?
R. This year I still think that I am not a candidate to win a Grand Slam. I know I can win it, I’m not saying no, because in tennis anything can happen. But I’m not going to go to those tournaments being one of the favorites or one of the candidates to win it.
This year I am not a candidate to win a ‘Grand Slam’, but I can win it, in tennis everything is possible
P. You have always confessed that you dream big. Do you often dream of being number one and winning big titles?
R. Yes, I always think about what it would be like to be number one, what it would be like to win the last point of my first Grand Slam. I always think how I would celebrate my first Grand Slam or how I would celebrate winning the match that allows me to be number one in the world.
P. You fell in love with the stands of the US Open, which takes place in New York. He repeated it in Brazil. Why do you think it connects so well with the public?
R. Because of the way I play, the self-confidence I have on the court; I am very dynamic, I go up to the net, I make drop shots, I hit the ball very hard; how cheering me up by shouting, being a bit euphoric in that sense… I can do anything to you, a quick bounce, a very good drop volley, different things that are what attract people.
Q. When was the last time you asked to have a photograph taken with an athlete you admire?
R. In Madrid I asked Luis Surez and Benzema.
I always think how will be the last point of my first ‘Grand Slam’
Q. Do you as a Real Madrid player see Mbapp in white next season?
R. Hopefully, everyone wants Mbapp on their team.
Q. Your game seems to be more suited to hard surfaces but your best results are on clay with the exception of the US Open quarters.
R. I am a player who adapts well to surfaces and I feel very comfortable both on clay and fast. I believe that being a tennis player I will play a little better in rapid than on clay due to the fact that most tournaments are in rapid. I’m sure I’ll end up feeling more comfortable there.
