Once this last obstacle has been overcome in the form of a recital, Carlos Alcaraz (6-4, 6-4 and 6-0 once morest Miomir Kecmanovic) asks permission from those present to sit down. At this point in the tournament, every rest counts and the world number two settles down on the sofa in a Melbourne Park lobby to answer the questions of the special envoys. Alcaraz says that his confidence is through the roof, that Alexander Zverev – his rival in Wednesday’s quarterfinals – might take its toll on the effort he has made so far and that he felt helpless in November in Turin, where he bowed down to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Masters Cup.
Precisely, Djokovic is, in the opinion of Rod Laver and many tennis fans, the undisputed favorite to lift the trophy on Sunday in Melbourne. However, the legend went further on Saturday, when he assured that the organization might now register the Serbian’s name unless there was a miracle. Considers the great Australian legend, 85 years old, that Nole is the perfect example of what a champion should be and that his shots are unbeatable, so he sees him being crowned for the eleventh time, the 25th in a major.
— Well… My name is miracle. We are going to try to prevent that from happening. Djokovic has won many times, he is at a plethora of levels. This is tennis and nothing can be taken for granted. We are going to work and we are going to take our little step to be in the semifinals, that is the first thing. Hopefully we can take the title here. It doesn’t surprise me that Laver says that, because of who Novak is, because of how he comes, because of the times he has won here…
Previously, Alcaraz has commented that he played an “impeccable” match and remembers that a situation similar to the current one already occurred at the US Open. He then swept Zverev, who this Tuesday spent more than four hours to beat Cameron Norrie. “In a Grand Slam, if you want to do great things, the fewer hours you spend on the court the better. He has already had two very tough games [resueltos en el desempate del quinto set]. And practically the same thing happened in New York; He had been on his back for many hours and in the end it took its toll on him. I don’t know what will happen here, but maybe it will happen once more. I haven’t had that many hours and I’m feeling better every time, so let’s see what happens.”
Finally, the tennis player says that he tries to apply the tactic of intimidation in each match. He believes that in situations like Kecmanovic’s, rivals “can feel helpless because they are playing well and not getting the result they want.” And he specifies: “It is something that we try, to add that intensity and that good game so that at a certain point in the game, they can lower their arms. We try to spread that fear, both to those in front and to those who are watching the game from outside. I felt it with Novak in Turin. I don’t think he played a bad game, but there was no way.”
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