THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 13, 2025

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

J. SINNER/C. Alcaraz

4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference for Carlos Alcaraz. Obviously not the result you were hoping for today, but overall, a good Championships?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah, it's always a bad feeling losing matches. I think it's a little bit even worse when you lose in a final.

Overall I'm just really proud about everything I've done, the last four weeks on grass here in London. I just leave Wimbledon, I just left the court with the head really, really, really high because that I just did everything that I could today. Just I played against someone who played an unbelievable game.

So just a little bit sad about losing, but with the head really high.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It felt like you weren't a serve bot today.

CARLOS ALCARAZ: I mean, today was complicated a little bit. You know, low percentage of first serve. Then I played against one of the best returner on tour, without a doubt.

It was a weapon that I wish it could be better, but today it was... I mean, with the nerves and everything, it was difficult to serve better. I just have to improve that, yeah, absolutely.

Q. The last time you lost a big final like this last summer at the Olympics, it took you a while to sort of bounce back, it seemed like. I'm sort of curious, what did you learn from that experience that you can now apply to this experience about bouncing back and moving on?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I think it's different. It's a different feeling, to be honest.

Yeah, last year in the Olympics I was really bad emotionally after the match. It was really, really hard for me to accept that moment.

Right now I think in the last year I've been through in different situations that I learned from them. Right now I'm in a position that I've spoken a few times already that, okay, I just accept everything that is coming to me in the way it comes. Like, okay, I just lost a final in a Grand Slam, but I just really proud about being in a final.

I just want to keep the good moments and trying to forget the bad moments. I just want to think, okay, I just played a final in a Grand Slam, and trying to forget that I lost it. It's just about I was able to play in it, and I just want to accept it.

So right now I'm just, as I said, I'm not bad at all. I'm just happy. I'm smiling because in my head it was about playing the final and being grateful for that.

Q. The rivalry with Jannik, how much does it mean for you to have an opponent at that level? Where do you think this rivalry is going?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: First of all, I just really, really happy about having this rivalry with him. I think it's great for us, and it is great for the tennis.

Every time we playing against each other, I think our level is really high. I think we don't watch a level like this, if I'm honest with you. I don't see any player playing against each other, you know, having the level that we are playing when we face each other.

I think, as I said many, many times, this rivalry, it's coming better and better. We're building really great rivalry because we're playing final of a Grand Slam, final of Master mills, the best tournament in the world. It's going to be better and better.

Just really grateful for that because it gives me the opportunity to just give my 100% every practice, every day. Just to be better, thanks to that. The level that I have to maintain and I have to raise if I want to beat Jannik is really high.

So I just really grateful for that.

Q. Obviously the defeat for Jannik in Paris was a really difficult one. Did he surprise you with the way he was able to get over that so quickly and come back and win here?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Not at all. He didn't surprise me at all because I know he's a really nice player and a huge champion. Champions learn from the - I'm not going to say fearless - but they learn from the loses.

I knew at the beginning that he was going to learn from that final, not going to make the same mistakes as they did in the French Open final.

The way he played today, it was really, really high. I didn't surprise at all. I knew he was going to play like this. So it was about some details.

Yeah, I mean, overall he didn't surprise me at all because I know he's a big champion.

Q. I want to ask you about the energy in this match because it seemed that maybe in the middle of this match, the energy... Did you feel like you had enough in the tank to go the distance?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Just, no, I didn't feel down physically at all during the match. It was all about, you know, he was pushing me to the limit in every point. So mentally sometime it's really tough to maintain the good focus or the good level during the whole match when you see the opponent just playing such a great tennis.

At some points I didn't know what I had to do in the match because from the baseline I was feeling he was better than me, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I think the big key was about the second serve. He was returning really well there the second serve that I was hitting. Thanks to that, he was in the position to attack in the second ball every time. So it was really difficult when you are feeling that you just defending all the time and running from side to side all the time.

That was my feeling. But I didn't feel down physically. That's the answer.

Q. What do you think you need to do better, if anything, to do better against him next time?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I think, surfaces are really different. I think, for example, today playing on grass I think, as I said, the second set felt really, really important. I feel like I just gave a lot of free points when he was serving the second serve.

Okay, he has a big first serve. That's obviously. I just tried to return or win point from the first set, that it is more difficult. But when you're have the chance to return a second serve, I had to do more with those points. I had to return better. I had to try to be in the position of attack after the return.

I just felt he was serving really or quite easily, and he was winning his serve game quite easily. Because of that, it wasn't push him, you know, to have nerves on the service game. So I think I have to be better on that.

Overall, it was a great match. I think the level from the baseline was really high. I think that was the big difference between both of us today.