French Open winner Carlos Alcaraz opened up on his unique rivalry with fellow Slam winner Jannik Sinner and how he overcame the Italian at a Roland Garros final that ranks right up there with some of the greatest tennis matches of all time.
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Alcaraz said that he believed that closing a slam was going to be tough on Sinner and that he would get his chances to make his way back into the match.
“I simply thought about coming back little by little: one point, then another point, then another point, especially those three points,” he said in an interview to the Financial Times. “Closing a Grand Slam is very, very difficult, so I knew that I would have chances. That’s why I stayed calm. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for him.”
Alcaraz also spoke about the mental warfare during a match of this significance that took place in this year’s French Open. The Spaniard revealed that his confident demeanor was also one that he portrayed in order to not show any weakness.
“It was a bit the image I wanted to give as well,” he said. “At no time did I doubt that I could come back, but obviously you have to show an image of self-confidence at all times. As soon as you show weakness to the other, that’s it – you are lost.”
Alcaraz also spoke about his relatioship with Sinner. While the initial years of a Roger Federer-Rafa Nadal rivalry was respectful yet distant, the same isn’t necessarily true for this generation’s greatest two tennis players.
“Jannik and I, who have had great battles on the court, see each other a lot off of it. We talk, we train together sometimes. And in the end you forge a good relationship, a beautiful relationship … We want to win and beat each other, but then off court, being good people and getting along is another matter. For me that is one of the virtues and values of sport,” said Alcaraz, who will next be a part of the US Open.
