Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/C. Alcaraz

6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Not the result you were hoping for, but could you share with us what made the difference for you today?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, first of all, I just have to give credit to Daniil. I think he just played an amazing match. Since the start of the match until the end of the, you know, the match, he was playing unreal, I gotta say. I have never seen, to be honest, playing Daniil like this.

He deserves completely the win today. He deserves completely to get through and playing a final here. All I can say is just congratulations to him.

From my side, I just played a few games mostly in the first set that I just let go my serve game, and part of that, I just running all the time against him.

So it was tough for me, but, you know, just proud to see that I just fought until the last ball.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How did you feel physically? Sometimes it seems that you were not so well. How did you handle the heat?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, it was because of the heat. I mean, the first set, I wasn't bad at all, but I just felt like the long rallies, especially when you play against Daniil, that the rallies are long, that you have to increase all the power in almost every shot.

So it feels like you're wasting extra energy after every shot. And with the heat, sometimes it's really tricky to deal with all of that.

So the first set was a little bit of struggling for me, but it was because he just made it. He just made it that I had to struggle a little bit.

In the second set, I just started to feel much better. I realized what I have to do. I realized that I have to suffer, and I accept it. I would say that that's why the second set was better.

Q. Tough luck today, but congratulations on the run from the start of the season. Has it been physically tiring or mentally challenging to know that people are expecting you to win match after match after match?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Not at all. I'm not thinking about it at all. I said it when I played against Rinderknech, for example, that what I'm just getting tired a little bit is to get that target on my back all the time. As I said, I have never seen Daniil playing like this before.

But I have to accept it. I have to accept it, keep it going. But after everything, as I said, I just realized what I had to do and what I have to think before every match and before every tournament, and it is just playing for me, playing for my team, and for my close people.

I'm not thinking about I need to win or I have to win. It's just about chasing my goals, chasing what I just set up before every tournament. That's my mindset, so I'm not getting tired about the people thinking I have to win every match.

Q. You had success against him in the past with serve and volley, did a little bit today, and then dropshotting him. Today it seemed like he had some good answers. Where did he surprise you the most today, how he played?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: How aggressive he played all the time. I think that surprised me a little bit. I knew at the beginning that he was going to play aggressive, but how, the way he did it, surprised me a lot, because he didn't miss any or he didn't miss as much as I expected (smiling). He was playing aggressive, and he didn't even miss. So it was tricky.

But, yeah, and the conditions was totally different, because the ball was bouncing super, super high. It feels like after my serve, he just start in a good position to return well all the time.

Yeah, and it feels like he always find the window, the space, to make the passing shot or to play a good shot for making me volleying in a bad position.

As I said, it was tricky, and he just found every solutions after every main shot.

Q. What were some of the things you tried to change in the second set? Because it felt like it was definitely closer than the first, except for the tiebreak. You did some things well, got to the net more often. In your mind, did you have some clarity about how you should play him the way he was playing against you as the match went on?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah, I realized that I had to do something different. From the first set, I think, as I said, I just try few times something different in the first set, and he was, like, you know, as I said, he was finding every solution and every answer to my shots.

So it was a little bit difficult. The shadow came to the court a little bit. It feels like it wasn't that hot since the beginning of the match. So I just tried to play, like, with more height, let's say, with more bounce, and trying to wait for my chances.

I tried to play aggressive from the return, and after that, trying to play, like, long rallies, the first, two, three shots, trying to play with a high bounce, and after that, try to find, you know, the good space to go aggressive and go for it. I just went to the net few more times that it was successful. Not always, but most of them.

Yeah, I just had my chances that I didn't take. I would say the difference was he just save four breakpoints, and I didn't save any. So I would say that's a big difference.

Q. Many of the matches you played during the two weeks are at night, and today was a very different condition, sunny and of course it's hot. Do you think that was kind of a factor of today's result?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, no, not at all. I mean, we have to get used to in every conditions. Doesn't matter. I knew that. I knew that it was going to be totally different than previous matches than when we were playing night session.

As I said before, I think this tournament, it's the tournament that you feel the most difference between playing day session or night session.

But, you know, we have been practicing during the day every day, so we knew the conditions about playing day session. I knew that before the match, and so it wasn't any factor at all. But obviously, it is a big difference playing day or night session here.

Q. You have been one of the two players to beat for so long. Why do you think you're feeling the target on your back just kind of now? Or have you been feeling it for a long time and you just haven't told us?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I mean, I'm just a little bit disappointed right now, but at the same time, I have to see the good things about this loss. It is about the people and the players think that they need to play like this level if they want to beat me. So at some point it's going to my favor in some ways.

But obviously I have been playing great tennis. And, you know, I just show the players and show the people that if they want to beat me, they have to play at his best level one hour and a half, two hours in every match.

So I feel good that way, but at the same time, when they play, like, at this level, it feels not that good (smiling). You know, I just have to accept it and keep it going, and from now on know that all the people are going to play like this, and I have to be ready for that.

Q. Did you not feel like that before, like last year or anything like that when you were still...

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I feel it a little bit, but obviously since I had such a great run from the clay season and the beginning of this year, I just started to feel it a little bit more.