Carlos Alcaraz est sorti vainqueur d'un énorme thriller de 5 sets et de près de quatre heures de jeu vendredi. Face à Frances Tiafoe, le tenant du titre de Wimbledon s'est fait très peur mais a fini par l'emporter, 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, un peu moins de deux ans après leur demi-finale à l'US Open 2022 également remportée en cinq sets par "Carlitos". Un match qui a fini tardivement, ce qui a obligé l'Espagnol a manqué le début du quart de finale de l'Euro de football entre l'Espagne et l'Allemagne. Interrogé sur le court, il a n'a pas hésité une seconde à demander le résultat du match en direct. Quelques instants plus tôt, il avait réalisé la fameuse célébration du joueur anglais Jude Bellingham.
Vidéo : @Wimbledon
Vidéo : @Wimbledon
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00:00Carlos, feeling pretty happy all round, I imagine, today?
00:07Yeah, really, really happy. Obviously, about my winning today.
00:14I think I played really great tennis. It was a really close match.
00:20Obviously, France is a really big opponent, but I'm really happy to get the win out there.
00:27Hi Carlos, many congratulations for your victory.
00:31Please tell me, in this kind of match, how would you describe the power of the mind?
00:39Well, I think for me it was a lot of up-and-downs in the match.
00:46There was a break-up in the first set, then a few mistakes in my game serves.
00:55After that, I played a really good second set, but then in the third set, again,
01:02a few mistakes in my game with serves.
01:09It was really important to stay there in the fourth set, for example,
01:13just to keep fighting, to keep trying to play better in the fourth set,
01:20just to give myself the chance to be alive in the match.
01:26I had to be better in that side and try to not make as much up-and-downs as I did today.
01:39Hi Carlos, well done today.
01:41Francis, do you think it was making you have those ups and downs,
01:48or was it just you having trouble finding your rhythm?
01:52Do you think in order to go farther in the tournament and get to next weekend,
01:58you need to get better than you were today?
02:01Well, the up-and-downs are not about the opponent, it's just about yourself.
02:06Obviously, if the opponent is playing great tennis and doesn't let you get the good rhythm,
02:17it's even tougher.
02:18But if I'm not feeling well or if I'm not playing at a high level,
02:24you have to stay strong mentally just to keep fighting and try to get the good rhythm.
02:33Once you get it, try not to be down again.
02:38That's what I have to improve because I played a really good second set.
02:44In the third set, as I said, there were some games that I didn't play at my best.
02:52I just got down my level a little bit.
02:56So I just had to not let that happen and stay in a high level of intensity,
03:06high level of focus during the whole match.
03:11You said the other day you really like five-set tennis.
03:15You've won another one.
03:17What makes five-setters and the fifth set so special for you?
03:22That I'm feeling great physically.
03:26I don't know.
03:27In the fifth set, I think I increased my tennis, my level.
03:32Feeling great physically helps you a lot to play more calmly than the opponent.
03:44I'm feeling much better than the opponent physically, mentally.
03:51I know that the other guy has to play a really high level of tennis intensity in the fifth set
03:59just if he wants to beat me.
04:02That helped me a lot to deal much better with those difficult situations in the fifth set.
04:12I'm playing with the stats that I just lost one match in the fifth set.
04:19That's an advantage for me.
04:22So that's why I'm feeling really well physically and in those situations I play at my high level.
04:33Hi Carlos, just a couple of quick football questions.
04:36Did you ask to play early today so you'd be done in time for the football?
04:41I didn't ask because Wimbledon is Wimbledon.
04:47But I was really happy when I saw that I was playing in the first match.
04:52Was it the Jude Bellingham celebration that you did today? Was that deliberate?
04:57No, I mean I have a striker for him. We're in London, he's in England.
05:02So that's why I told him that a big win deserves a big celebration.
05:09Carlos, just going back to what you were saying a moment ago about your success in fifth sets.
05:16Was there a point where you realised or thought to yourself,
05:21hey, I'm going to have this advantage over my opponents because I am good in fifth sets?
05:27Was there maybe a match that made you think that?
05:30Or something maybe Juan Carlos said to you at some point?
05:35Or something maybe Juan Carlos said to you at some point?
05:39Or you just realised, hey, I'm doing pretty well in these and I'm going to feel confident any time I go into a fifth set?
05:49Well, I realised that I am a good player in the fifth set.
05:54As I said, I push the opponent just to be at his 100% physically and mentally and play at his 100% in the tennis game.
06:09So sometimes for the other player it's difficult to keep this kind of intensity, this kind of level during the fifth set.
06:23So in my head I'm thinking that I'm good at it and I have to believe that I'm going to win
06:34and I'm going to play at my best tennis.
06:37I think in every match that I've played in fifth sets I played really close or at my best tennis.
06:46So I realised that I'm good at it and I believe that I'm going to win and I think that's a good point for me.
07:00Do you remember when you first had that belief?
07:04Well, I've always believed in myself in the fifth set but honestly when I had 5-1, 6-1 I started to think,
07:16OK, in the fifth set I'm going to be better than the other guy.
07:21So I don't have a turn point about it but I don't know when I won a few of them.
07:31Joe?
07:32Carlos, what do you think Francis was doing through the first three into the fourth set that was working effectively for him?
07:38Well, he's a really good water striker I think.
07:46With his serves he was a pretty good serve.
07:52He didn't let me get into the match.
07:58I broke his serves twice in the second set but after that I had not too many opportunities to break his serves.
08:11So it was difficult sometimes to play with it but I think he moves pretty well.
08:19He returned well as well and I couldn't dominate the match.
08:27I think most of the time he was in a position to play aggressive, playing his style of game
08:35and he didn't let me decide or put my own game on the match.
08:42Last one in English.
08:43Hello Carlos.
08:44You've talked about your ups and downs and a lot of people tell that it's probably the best progression you can have in tennis
08:50to have less downs and more ups.
08:52Do you agree with that?
08:54And if yes, how can you work on that?
08:57How is it workable to have more ups than downs and more consistency?
09:02Yeah, I learned a lot.
09:05I grew up in terms of the ups and downs or losing focus in the match.
09:11Right now I think there are not too many ups and downs in the match.
09:19I stay in a really good level of intensity or focus during the whole match.
09:30Sometimes there are matches that I go down a little bit or I struggle to get better or to get the rhythm in the match
09:39but every match or every tournament that I'm playing it's going less, those matches or those situations.
09:52But I have to be focused in every match and realize that it's happening during the match
09:58and try to improve it as soon as possible during the match.