It has been an exhausting year, but he is still going strong and eager to finish the course in the best way possible. He has not been able to qualify for the semi-final of the Masters Cup, but Carlos Alcaraz He will learn from his frustrating loss to Alexander Zverev and be better in the next tournament. One that arrives this Saturday and that has many incentives: a unique Davis Cup for being Rafael Nadal’s farewell.
«It is probably the most special tournament I will play in my career. The Davis Cup is a tournament that I would love to win one day. The excitement of representing Spain is the greatest thing in the world. And having Rafa by my side, knowing that it will be the last tournament, will make it more special. I will try to help the team and contribute what I can, for myself, for Spain and for Rafa. He is the player who most deserves to end the incredible career he has had with a title. And I know how special the Davis Cup is for him. A difficult challenge, but motivating to give it to Spain. Rafa’s farewell is much more important. There is a Davis Cup every year, but a legend of the sport, unfortunately, only retires once. It is super important for me, and to be able to win it for Spain, but personally I am very excited to be next to Rafa at his farewell. It is an incredible event and I hope the entire team wins the Cup,” explained the player, already looking to the future that passes through Malaga.
But he takes a few lessons from this perhaps too short week in Turin. He has been able to cope with the cold, and even though he did not have everything in place to display his best tennis, he has more than delivered with two good matches, against Rublev and Zverev. «It has been a difficult week, struggling with physical problems, but also a great tournament, it is a privilege to play with the best of the year. I will learn from this. I’ve played good tennis this week. Today I faced one of the best with solid tennis and I was there. “A little disappointed but happy to have played this tournament once again.”
He has also shown a less visible face, angry since the end of the first set with himself, with his bench, with the racket and with the entire world. Rarely has he been seen so disoriented, unhinged, frustrated and even aggressive in his gestures, his words, his movements. He had already had an outburst of anger in Cincinnati, and here, although milder, he once again uncovers that face so often hidden by the smile when everything goes well.
«In the tie break there were some points where I could have done better, without a doubt. At 6-5 I don’t know what was going through my mind to volley that ball. In tennis you have to decide in less than a second, sometimes you decide something that doesn’t matter, other times it is the correct option. You can decide something stupid and lose the set like that, it hurts. In the second set, I had a 40-0 that I lost with stupid shots and it was difficult for me. Some 30-30 that I have played with a ball out the first time, a 15-40 that I have played badly. “Things I have to learn,” he assumed more calmly.
Frustration also comes from fatigue, it has been a very intense few days in which it was difficult to breathe and the fight against the elements comes in November, with the gasoline reserve almost at zero. «It will be impossible to arrive at this part of the season fresh, but I have to play my best tennis even when I am tired. I don’t know if it’s right or not, but every workout adds up. You go to each tournament with the greatest possible enthusiasm. The main thing is that it is not difficult for you to go to training, reach the end and have the same level as at the beginning and over the days,” he proposes as a solution. For now, the following days come full of hope, and as a team, which is always more bearable.
