Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he surprised himself by the performance he had in his second game of the Nitto ATP Finals, in which he defeated Andrei Rublev 6-3 and 7-6 (10/8). “The way I played today from the baseline, with my serve. It was very calm. “I just tried to focus on my game and what I had to do and forget that I didn’t feel well and that I was sick,” he said after the game.
There was a plaster on his nose that helped him breathe better and deal with the cold better, but the main change was his attitude. “Once you get on the court, you have to forget about everything, your problems off the court, and try to concentrate on hitting a good forehand, a good backhand and in making good tactics against the opponent. “I think I did pretty well and I surprised myself,” he said. He did not have to face any break balls against him. He served wonderfully, with ten direct serves.
At the end of the match, Alcaraz wanted leave a message on the camera, as winners usually do. He wrote “Valencia” and next to it he put a heart.
Afterwards, he spoke about the situation that is being experienced in Spain. “I have not been able to go to Valencia. I have already said that Whatever I can contribute, I’m going to do it.. I hope that what happened in Malaga is not even one percent of what happened in Valencia. I only saw that it was raining. I hope I don’t see any damage and that the girls can play normally,” he said.
After the girls, the Billie Jean King Cup, whose premiere was delayed by the new DANA (today, Wednesday, Spain was to have played against Poland, and finally they will do so on Friday), it will be the boys’ turn (although for a couple of days both competitions, which share a venue, the Martín Carpena in Málaga, overlap), where Alcaraz shares a team with Bautista, Pedro Martínez, Marcel Granollers y Rafa Nadalin what will be the last tournament in the Balearic Islands.
The selection will be concentrated on the weekend. Alcaraz will do so later for his participation in the Nitto ATP Finals. Who knows if even on Monday, one day before the start (Spain plays the quarterfinals against the Netherlands on Tuesday the 19th), as champion of the Masters Tournament. With the victory against Rublev the way opens for him. Everything will be decided on the last day against Zverev.
