Tennis - Roland-Garros 2024 - Carlos Alcaraz : "If I wanted to play Rafael Nadal ? No"
Demi-finaliste l'année dernière, seulement battu par le futur vainqueur Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz arrive avec peu de ryhtme pour le Grand Chelem parisien, n'ayant disputé que quatre matchs sur la terre battue européenne cette année, tous à Madrid. La faute à une blessure à l'avant-bras droit qui a contraint le joueur de 21 ans à déclarer forfait à Monte-Carlo, Barcelone et Rome. Pour son entrée en lice, l'Espagnol défiera un qualifiée. Il se trouve dans la partie de tableau d'Andrey Rublev, son bourreau à Madrid.
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00:00I'm feeling better. Every practice that I've done here at home, it was pretty, pretty good
00:14and I'm feeling better and better. At least I can practice and hit balls without pain.
00:21That's a really good point for me. I'm excited to play my first match here in Rangados.
00:30Hi Carlos. The Rafa question. What are your feelings about the fact that Rafa is playing
00:38his last Rangados here and where he won so many times?
00:43Well I know that it's a really special tournament for him and it's a shame that we are going
00:50to watch his last tournament here for him. But all I want to be focused on is to enjoy
01:00his last tournament as much as he can play. I want to enjoy his tennis but obviously everything
01:13comes to an end. But honestly I don't want to see him retiring soon or playing his last tournament.
01:23Hi Carlos. When did you decide to play? In Madrid I think it was right up until the last
01:28day or even the morning of the match that you were still deciding whether to play or
01:33not. When did you make the decision that you were able to play and why did you decide to
01:40play given that you're young and you'll probably have a lot more chances and there's probably
01:45a risk any time you're injured?
01:48Well first of all because it's Rangados and it's a really special tournament, a Grand
01:54Slam, everybody wants to do good results here. And this tournament is one of the main reasons
02:03that I'm practising every day. I want to be a better player to be able to win these
02:10kind of tournaments. I decided to play here a long time ago, a few weeks ago, because
02:22I was feeling better. I think we did really good work on the forearm to recover the injury
02:31as soon as possible. We did everything in the right time. We started to hit balls, let's
02:43say at my 30 per cent, just to increase my intensity after the days. It was great. So
02:54I decided to come here a week ago when the practice became more intense and I felt well.
03:05Hi Carlos, is there any part of you that would have wanted to play Rafa in Round 1?
03:15No. Honestly, no. When I saw that there was a 50 per cent chance that I could play against
03:27Rafa, I was like, thanks, no.
03:32Hi Carlos, of course it's not easy to have to rehab from an injury and prepare for a
03:38Grand Slam with your ambitions, but I'm just wondering if maybe it has taken some pressure
03:43off your shoulders because of having to focus on getting that arm right?
03:48Well, honestly, I come here to this tournament with not too many matches, not as many matches
03:57as I wanted. But I'm focused on the practice, I'm practicing well, I'm getting rhythm, I'm
04:05getting confidence on the practice that I think is really important. I think I don't
04:12need too many matches to get to my 100 per cent, to get to my high level. So I think
04:20with this week here, I think I'll be ready for my first match at a really high level.
04:31So let's see how it's going to be, my first match, but I trust that it's going to be a
04:37really good match for me.
04:38Hi Carlos, could you describe and explain exactly what was wrong with your arm and how
04:50it affected your play? And right now, is there any effect left from that?
04:58Well, I think you're not going to believe me, but I don't know exactly what I have on
05:03the forearm. When I do the test, when I'm talking with the doctors, my team, they explain
05:13me what I have on the forearm, but I listen to them. But I forget it and I just focus
05:24to do the things that the doctors, my team, told me that I have to do. That's it.
05:36What I remember is they told me that it's not going to be serious, it's not going to
05:42take too much time, but here we are, recovering. I'm not feeling any pain in the practices
05:54when I step on the court, but I'm still thinking about it when I'm hitting forehands.
06:00Probably I'm going to say I'm a little bit scared about hitting every forehand 100%,
06:08so I have to change it to my first match, but everything that I'm focusing on is that
06:13I'm not feeling any pain.
06:18Given the fact that Novak and Rafa have not had the greatest season this far and that
06:24Yannick Sinner is coming back from an injury, who do you think in your half of the draw
06:29could pose the biggest challenge to you?
06:32Well, I'm recovering from an injury as well, so I don't know. Every player that I'm going
06:36to face is a big challenge for me, but Yannick Sinner is having an unbelievable season for
06:46me. I think it doesn't matter if he's coming from an injury, I think he has the capacity
06:54to come here and play at such a high level and be able to win it. Same as Rafa, same
07:02as Djokovic, probably we don't see them playing at his best tennis, but he's a Grand Slam,
07:09he's Roland Garros, and I think they have chances to win the tournament and increase
07:16his level 100%.
07:25So you and Yannick are both really strong young players and both dealing with injuries
07:29right now. Do you ever talk to each other or support each other in these moments in
07:33your career? What is that relationship like now?
07:37Well, he's a really nice person off the court. We share a lot of great moments. We speak
07:46a little bit when I see him around. When I saw bad news about his injury, I wrote him
07:59just to wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully see him here. I think it's great for everyone
08:07having the best players in the world in the tournament, seeing them around. I just wish
08:15him all the best during these tough moments, during his whole career, and hopefully share
08:23great moments in the future.
08:28you