AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 11, 2021

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

M. YMER/C. Alcaraz

2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Bad luck today; what did you learn from this loss?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, it's a tough day for me. I don't want to lose never. Yeah, I learn out of this match, I didn't manage the nerves. I lost control of my serve, and I think for the next tournament I will try to be focused all the time, don't complain, and yeah, I think I have to do better the things when the things are not going in a good way.

Q. Mikael had a press conference and he said he was actually impressed how good you are managing your nerves and you stay calm when you are down or you are facing intense points. Could you talk a little bit more about that? How did you feel when you are facing the important point or down?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I started the match really well, playing very aggressive. I think in the second set, he played better. He didn't miss a lot of balls like in the first set. And yeah, I started to be nervous, and I didn't manage really well. I tried to be aggressive all the time, but the things didn't go well in that moment, and I started to complain a lot. I didn't thought clearly in that moment, and yeah, in that level if you go out one or two games you lose the set or the match.

I think I have to be focused all the time and don't complain like I did today.

Q. Can you talk about when and how you started playing tennis and at what age you went to Ferrero Academy?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: So I started to play tennis at four years old, and yeah, I start with Juan Carlos like four years ago, three or four years ago.

Q. Did anybody introduce you to him?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: I think Juan Carlos want to be a coach to start with a junior, and yeah, teach the things with teenagers.

Q. You were talking about the match, but how proud were you of how much you fought back? Fourth set you were down a break and you kept coming back, the tiebreak you came back. How proud are you that even though maybe you didn't play your best you were still able to make it such a tight match?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah. I went down in the score, since the second set I always went down, one down. In the first set when he break my serve, I complained too much, I think. Then I broke his serve in the next game, but yeah, in that moment I wanted to win the points in one ball. I didn't want to play the point, and I think in that level you have to want to play every point, especially in the tough moments.

He played a really good game, and he was better than me in that moments. And yeah, that's all.

Q. What was Juan Carlos's message to you when you got back to the locker room?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: At that moment we didn't talk about the match. He wait, I come, I have lunch, take a shower, and yeah, when we did everything, when we are in the hotel, we will talk about the match.