Carlos Alcaraz feared another Novak Djokovic blitz after dropped first set
Carlos Alcaraz confessed that he feared that he would suffer another quick defeat to Novak Djokovic in a Major final after he dropped the first set of Sunday’s Wimbledon final.
Instead it seemed that he took his lessons from is French Open final loss and found a way back into the match.
Not only would Alcaraz rattle off the next two sets but he would hold off another Djokovic fight back to claim his second Grand Slam title.
Despite the massive win Alcaraz would not entertain thoughts of replacing the gods of tennis just yet.
Alcaraz feels that with Rafael Nadal and Djokovic still at it, he isn’t the biggest star in the sport just yet.
“It’s nice when people say those things, but Djokovic is still around and Rafa [Nadal] is too.
“Maybe in the future we can talk about that in the years ahead, but right now, it’s not the right moment.
“I learned a lot that match (French Open semi-final), and Sunday was totally different due to my preparations.
“I was prepared mentally and had a totally different feeling before and during the match. I was able to deal with the pressure much better than at the French Open.
“Physically, I was already well prepared to play this kind of match, which felt like a marathon. I’m really proud to play at this level, which was five hours against a legend.”
Even with all that preparation behind him, Alcaraz had his doubts when he lost the first set 6-1.
He says that he needed to keep telling himself that he would get his chances.
“At the time, I thought ‘please don’t be this fast!’
“But at the same time, I knew that I was going to have my chances and it was all about staying in the game.
“I was believing in myself all the time and knew that I could improve.”
The master plan to win Wimbledon was put together by Alcaraz and his team led by coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Ferrero says that the gameplan they had put together elements of the modern grass court greats.
“He takes things on board very quickly, and we’ve also seen a lot of videos of players that move very quickly here,” Ferrero said of Alcaraz.
“So, we copied a little of Murray, Roger and Novak, and he tries to copy a little bit the same. In the end, it wasn’t easy, but we did it.”
READ MORE: The incredible rise of Carlos Alcaraz
