NITTO ATP FINALS

November 11, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz

Inalpi Arena,Torino

Press Conference

C. RUUD/C. Alcaraz

6-1, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Carlitos, tough luck. How do you assess your performance today and Casper's as well?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Obviously, I could be better on court. I didn't feel well on court. Doesn't matter the times I beat Casper. But Casper is really uncomfortable player to play with.

Yeah, I think he did a really good work today. But I talk about myself, I could just be better. I could play better. Obviously I could feel better on court, as well.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously you are excellent on clay, grass, hard court. What makes it difficult for you indoor? Not talking specifically about this match, but...

CARLOS ALCARAZ: I have no experience playing on indoor courts. I could practice a lot on indoor courts, but I have not matches in my back on indoor courts. So I don't know. I have to be better on this part of the year that we play on indoor courts.

I don't know. I'll be a really good player on indoor courts, I'm sure about it. But I think it's about time, about getting experience, getting matches in my back, hitting on indoor courts.

I don't feel that I'm a bad player indoors. Probably I'm going to say a lot of players are better than me on indoor court.

I don't know. I can't answer as good as I wanted to this question.

Q. Daniil Medvedev yesterday said he was really tired mentally at the end of the season. Do you feel the same now, a lot of matches, end of the season, or you have full energy now?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: I dare to say that every player are tired mentally. If someone says that he is fresh, he is lying (smiling).

Some players deal with it better than others. I'm tired. I'm tired mentally. Obviously a lot of matches, really tight schedule, really demanding year with not too many days off, not too many period of you could rest, you could practice at home.

It's kind of you finish one week or you finish a swing, you only have two or three days off and then you have to go to other tournaments to other part of the world.

Since the beginning of the year you're accumulating hours, days. You come into this part of year tired.

As I said many, many times, I think this year I'm much better than last year, but I have to find the way to performance and deliver a good tennis being tired mentally.

Q. You said you weren't feeling well on the court. Were you feeling physically okay on the court? How does this sort of set you up do you think for the rest of the week?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, a few days before coming here, I got sick at home. And yeah, the days that I was practicing here, I was feeling okay. Not pretty good, but okay. I could play. I could feel that I can get into the rallies in the practice. Obviously, in the matches is totally different.

But today I didn't feel well. In this morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach. After long rallies today, I couldn't feel well.

I don't want to, you know, say because I don't want to sound like an excuse. But if I feel bad, I feel bad. It is what happened today.

Q. Towards the end of the season it seems like you made some small changes to your backhand preparation. Are you and your team trying something new because of the indoor season and faster surfaces? Is it tough to make changes when you're already so successful on tour?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: That's a good eye (smiling).

I don't know. I mean, I'm a player who makes changes without working on. I didn't speak to Juan Carlos. I didn't speak to anyone else. I just started to feel comfortable doing it or without thinking I just did it a little bit different, and I started to feel well.

I don't know. It was in the Asian Swing, for example, Beijing I start, or in the Davis Cup, I started to do it a little bit different, the preparation. I feel great.

It's kind of I don't know. Sometimes is good, sometimes is bad. But I do changes without practicing at all. I don't know if I'll practice it, I'll change it, in the pre-season I'll do a little bit different.

But yeah, it's pretty difficult when you don't have time to do something different between tournaments because you don't have time.

But yeah, I did a little bit different.