MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 30, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/J.L. Struff

6-3, 6-7, 7-6

(Questions in Spanish.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You had spoken earlier in the year of trying to get rid of, like, dips and where your mind would go elsewhere. Is that something that you experienced during this match at all? If it was, how did you deal with it and how did you experience it and what did you do to get yourself locked in?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, yeah, it was up-and-downs in the match. I think in the first set I played a great tennis. Beginning of the second set as well, breaking his serve.

Then probably it came a little bit of doubts with my serve. He started to play well, as well. You know, in the third set, as well. Serving for the match, he broke my serve and then had a chance to break my serve again at the end of the third set.

Yeah, it was a roller coaster, a lot of up-and-downs. It's something that I'm trying to be better at it, but, you know, I think I'm doing better that to not having a lot of up-and-downs, but I think it's a lot of work to do.

Q. This morning you hit a lot of dropshots during the warmup, the training. Was it part of the plan today? How do you analyze this shot today during Struff?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, a dropshot is important shot for me. I mean, in the warmup, I hit it, like, five, six dropshots and not one was in. So I really wanted to end the warmup with good feelings in every shot: the forehand, backhand, dropshots, volleys. If there is any shot that I'm not feeling comfortable with it, I'm gonna practice until I'm gonna put almost three, four in in a row.

Of course it's something that I was planning to do in the match. That's why.

Q. Carlos, earlier in the tournament Rafa was speaking about that dream you both have to play doubles at the Olympics together. I'm just wondering, have you spoken about it? He also mentioned you might play another tournament before that. Is that on the cards?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, we spoke a little bit about it. Yeah, we spoke that it would be great if we play a tournament before the Olympics Game, but it's going to be difficult.

You know, in clay next is going to be Rome and Roland Garros, and I think both tournaments are really important for us in the single, and we are not going that better conditions physically, so it's going to be difficult to play a tournament before Olympics Games, but it could be great.

As I said many times, if everything goings well, we are going to play doubles in the Olympics Game. But until that, we have a lot of weeks before the Olympics.