Carlos Alcaraz reveals what gives him extra motivation to beat Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz admits he was nervous ahead of his match against Jannik Sinner at the Indian Wells Open, but the Spaniard insists being behind in their head-to-head rivalry didn’t contribute to the nerves.
The two rising stars met for the eighth time in their careers on Saturday as they squared off in the ATP Masters 1000 semi-final and it was Alcaraz who emerged victorious with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
The win helped the Spaniard to draw level with Sinner in their head-to-head as they are now tied at 4-4.
It was a welcome win for the 20-year-old as he had lost the two previous meetings against the reigning Australian Open champion.
Asked during his post-match press conference if he was nervous or concerned that Sinner was starting to move ahead of him in their rivalry, Alcaraz replied: “Well, every time that I’m gonna face Jannik I’m going to get nervous. That’s for sure. Because I know that I have to play him 100% if I want to beat him.
“But yeah, doesn’t get me nervous the facts that I am behind in head-to-head. It gives me extra motivation to give my 100% just to beat him in that head-to-head.
“You know, I try to play my best every match against him, to be able to catch him. I think I did it. We are equals right now, if I’m not wrong. So the next time that I’m going to face him, I’m not gonna think about I’m battling that.”
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Sinner dominated early on and Alcaraz had to up his game with his decision to change his return stance providing to be decisive.
The Spaniard also feel playing longer rallies contributed to his comeback win.
“I had to change a little bit my game, let’s say. It’s obvious that I change the way of the return,” he explained. “I was more in the back. I’m putting every return in.
“I tried to give myself the opportunity to put more rallies, longer rallies, and I think I was able to feel a little bit better in the second set, just to play longer rallies.
“I felt really good physically, so I think that was a key to change the match a little bit.”
And the two gave the crowd plenty of entertainment with drop shots and extended rallies.
He added: “It’s unbelievable to play matches like this one with this atmosphere. As I said after the match, I feel like I’m playing at home. It’s something crazy seeing that I’m playing the other part of my country, of the world, and be able to feel that energy, that love like I’m playing at home is something unbelievable.
“So every time that I’m playing against Jannik, I think for both of us, it’s an amazing fight. But for the crowd, is an amazing match that I think that they enjoy every time that we are playing each other.
“I think the energy that people bring to us is special.”
