At Wimbledon,
On the turning point of the final: “I would say the tie-break in the second set. My backhand let me down at that point. I just had two bad backhands and voila, the game tipped in his favor. Then afterwards, he considerably raised his level of play in the third set… And I was not me for a while. I managed to collect myself and regain the upper hand in the middle of the fourth set, where I had my chance. It is also necessary to underline how much he demonstrated his qualities as a defender and a fighter. I think of this passing which gives him the break in the fifth set…”
On digesting that loss: “It hurts, obviously. I’ve also won epic finals after coming so close to losing. So losing one like that here might just set the record straight. All credit goes to Carlos. He was incredible in the important moments.
On Alcaraz’s composure: “It’s strong for someone his age (20) to control his nerves so well to play attacking tennis and finish the match the way he did. .. I thought I had returned well on the last game of the game, but he made some incredible shots. So yes, congratulations to him and his team. I hope everyone enjoyed this great game. Now I have to move on and move on.”
On Alcaraz’s play on grass: “I’m not surprised at his level on clay. His game is suitable and was developed for clay and rather slow hard courts. On the other hand, he surprised me on grass. He surprised everyone with how he adapted to grass this year despite not having many wins on grass in the last two years. His slices, his returns, his net game, are impressive. He has proven himself to be the best player in the world without a doubt. He is able to play fantastic tennis on different surfaces and he deserves to be where he is.”
On a future rivalry: “I hope so. But he left to be on the circuit for a while, whereas I don’t know… We’ll see. We only played three matches against each other. Three very close matches. Two of them this year in the last rounds of the Grand Slam (Djokovic won in the semis at Roland-Garros, editor’s note). I hope to play him again at the US Open in the final. It would be nice.”
On the comparison with the Big Three: “I agree that his game is a mix of mine, Roger’s (Federer) and Rafa’s (Nadal). He has this mental toughness and maturity for someone who is 20 years old. He has that Spanish bull mentality, that competitiveness, that fighting spirit and that incredible defense that we have seen in Rafa over the years. And I think he has nice sliced backhands that have similarities to mine. He also has this ability to adapt. I think that has also been one of my strengths for many years. To be honest, I’ve never played against a player like him. Roger and Rafa obviously have their own strengths and weaknesses. Carlos is a very complete player. He has amazing adaptability which I believe is the key to longevity and a successful career on all surfaces.
Statements taken at a press conference
