QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 20, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/A. Rublev

7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Carlos, amazing match today. Can you talk a bit about your performance in a touch match against Andrey.

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah, it was a really tough match. Andrey is one of the most, if not the most powerful player we have on tour right now. He has such a great forehand and such a great rhythm from the baseline.

Yeah, I had to run a lot today. I just had to fight a lot today. Just happy about it, and, yeah, just really proud of getting the win in straight sets and making my first final here in Doha.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You are one step away, one game away from lifting your first trophy here in Doha. How do you feel right now? This is your second time here in Doha, and you're very close, so how would you prepare to this final that will be special to you?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I will try to prepare as well as I can. Obviously a final, I will try not to do anything different from the previous matches. I will try to approach in the same way. I'm just really happy to give myself the chance to lift the trophy here in Doha for the first time in my second time playing here. It's a great feeling.

Tomorrow's going to be a great day. I'm really excited about it. Really looking forward to playing my first final here. I will try to sleep well, to prepare well in the morning, and get ready for the night.

Q. That was a great match. A lot of roller coaster, but you managed to win it in straight sets. I would like to ask you about the atmosphere today in Doha, as the crowd was lifting you up from the very first point from your first match. As it is one of the only three tournaments that exist in the Middle East, I would like you to tell us about the atmosphere here in Doha.

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, it was a surreal day. I think today was a little bit more full on the court. It was a great atmosphere, a great feeling, a great support that I received. I could hear some fans screaming too for Andrey, which is great, having both sides.

But talking about mine, I just felt the love. I feel the support. Obviously in these kind of matches, really tough ones and close ones, the support and the love from the people helps a lot. And then it really has an important role in the match, which I tried to take the most of it.

Just happy about to live this experience, about the people here, and the support here. As I said, just really grateful for their support.

Q. You kept getting ahead in this match and he kept coming back. What do you think made the difference in the end? Did you change the decision making, or was it just a question of getting one more ball back or a mindset thing?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, sometimes it's difficult, you know. Sometimes I just have a lot of mistakes, and I just choose not the right shot in the right moment. I think that's part of my game, I guess, and I'm trying not to let that happen very often.

I think, when you have a lot of shots in the book, it's always great, because the other player are not expecting, you know, or he doesn't know what's going to happen next. But at the same time, tennis is about making decisions in about one second. So when you have three or four decisions in your head, and you have to choose the right one in just one second, sometimes you choose the bad one.

It's tricky, but that's how I play tennis. That's how I like to play tennis, and I have to accept it and live with it.

Q. You will reach No. 66 weeks as No. 1 like Jannik, because now he cannot overcome you before in the clay season. How important for you is to be the actual player with more weeks as No. 1? And how important is to have this gap broader? Did you expect that Sinner last night would have lost, or you were surprised? Did you see anything?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I mean, it's going to be a great number, obviously. A goal for me is just to stay in the top as much weeks as I can, and making or trying to play the finals of every tournament. I'm just really happy that I'm able to do it in the last tournament.

I mean, I was surprised, I'm not going to lie, I was surprised that Jannik lost. But at the same time I know what the players are capable of. For example, there are some players that are really dangerous because when they have their day. For example Mensik, and a lot of players, their problem is, I could say, is the consistency, and to play at that level every match. But when they have their days, they are really, really dangerous, and they can beat anybody, including myself.

So I was surprised in a way, but at the same time I wasn't at all. I'm just happy to see, you know, myself with a big gap, you know, on points, but I will try to still focus on it.

Q. Amazing level today. I want to ask you, people love comparisons in sports very much. Some would say you have the flare of Roger, the athleticism of Rafa, and of course now a similar serve to Novak. So did you try to implement some of their game into yours, or does a sort of thing like this come naturally?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: I mean, that's my style, that's myself, that's how I grew up. Obviously I look up to Roger, Rafa when I was younger, trying to imitate their things. But once you're getting older, you're just trying to define yourself, to define your kind of tennis.

I think that's what I did. At one point I knew what my style was, and I started to practice that. Right now it's naturally, comes naturally to me. I haven't imitated anybody in the sport, but, you know, people have talked about it because having the big three, there are probably a lot of players, or right now you can see every player and you can think about, Okay, this serve is from him, this serve is from that one. But I think everybody has their style and nobody have copied anybody in this sport. For me it's just Carlos.