Carlos Alcaraz admits that against Novak Djokovic he suffered mentally

• Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz's path at the Roland Garros ended in the semifinals. The cramps prevented the Spaniard from competing to his fullest potential against Novak Djokovic until the end of the match. After recovering the disadvantaged set and demonstrating that he can bring a match that started badly on his side, Alcaraz had to deal with cramps: first in his hand, then in his legs.

The Murcia phenomenon honored his commitment and remained on the field despite the obvious physical difficulties. Djokovic closed the third and fourth sets comfortably and consoled Alcaraz during the handshake.

Alcaraz came back to talk about the defeat against Djokovic

The Spaniard returned to talk about the challenge with the Serbian in an exclusive interview with the newspaper L'Equipe.

Alcaraz explained: "Physically I'm fine, the problem in that match was mental. I didn't prepare well for the match that awaited me, I put too much pressure on myself. If you add all this extra tension to the first two sets, which were very tough from a physical point of view, then what actually happened happens.

The cramps against Djokovic were only due to tension. To play against him, you must always give your best." Alcaraz will be back on the court next week: his season on grass will begin at the historic Queen's tournament. The Spaniard has only played two tournaments on this surface: Wimbledon 2021 and 2022.

On the lawns of the All England Club, Alcaraz stopped on the first occasion in the second round, losing to Daniil Medvedev. Last year, however, it was Jannik Sinner who stopped him in the round of 16. At the Queen's tournament, Alcaraz will face one of the tennis players from the qualifiers on his debut and, in case of victory, the winner of the match between Jiri Lehecka and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. In the quarterfinals, he could give life to a very interesting challenge with the two-time winner Matteo Berrettini.