ROLAND GARROS

May 29, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/J. de Jong

6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Well done. How much did you know about your opponent and how much did he impress you?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I didn't watch him too much, matches, practice. Well, this is the first time that I played against him. I've never practiced with him, but I follow his results. I know that he did good results in challengers. Step by step I think he deserves a position in the ATP.

This tournament he impressed me. His level, I think he played really good tennis. If he continues this level, I think he's going to be top 100 soon.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Did you needed to use more capacity of your forehand today compared to your last match?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: I mean, the match was, I'm going to say, more difficult, more points, more sets. So I think I had to use more my forearm, but I had to use more my, you know, my all shots; backhand, forehand. But anyway, with these conditions, I think the rallies was longer than the previous match, so I think that I hit more forehands, but I don't know if I had to use it more or not.

Q. Congrats for finding a way today. At some moment after the second set, you looked like you were struggling with your whole game and even being surprised at how you were struggling with your game. I just wonder if it's a bad day at the office or if there was something you were not comfortable with today.

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I think he started to play better in the third set. It was up and down in the match. I think I played good tennis the first and second sets, and then I was struggling a little bit.

I think he increase his tennis. The speed of his ball, it was higher, I think. Yeah, he didn't let me to get into the rhythm of the match. I think he dominated most of the points in the third set, and I was struggling to get to my good tennis or the tennis that I was playing in the first and the second set.

Then in the fourth set, I had to fight. I got to overcome the problems that I had most of the time with my serve. But really happy that I could get the win in a good way at the end.

Q. You're known for hitting pretty spectacular shots yourself, but there was one that Jesper hit where it was kind of like a backwards backhand. Have you seen that before and what did you make of that shot?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: But he did it, not me (smiling). Yeah, he did it. I have seen these kind of shots, but it's unusual to see it. So it was kind of frustrating, let's say, you know, when I lost that point (smiling).

But the points that we did saw, I think he did it much better than me today. But yeah, it was a good shot.

Q. There were a lot of missed breakpoint opportunities in the second set and even the rest of the match, a lot of breaks back and forth. Why did you struggle to convert them? Was it mental? Was it just how well he was playing?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, it was mental, let's say, yeah, I had a lot of breakpoints. I didn't make too much of them. But I think that the points that we played in the breakpoint he played great tennis and he deserved to get those points.

But anyway, I think it was kind of less energy from my side, that I had to play with more energy those points, I guess. But, yeah, I had to forget it and try to be good at those points in the fourth set.