ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 9, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/T. Etcheverry

6-1, 4-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Carlitos, great fight today. As someone who I believe you play some of your best tennis when you're quite instinctive and not overthinking, how much do you use data to evaluate yourself or opponents?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Where?

Q. Like data, like forehand speeds and just data available from the ATP, for example. Do you understand?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: No, not really (smiling).

Q. Like tactical data, like where someone serves, the direction they serve, or how they hit their forehand and backhand.

CARLOS ALCARAZ: If I see more often or...

Q. If you use that when you're planning for your matches and you're strategizing.

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah, sometimes. I mean, yeah, to be honest, that's my coach job (smiling). No, but yeah, my coach used to usually watch the matches against, you know, from my opponent, from the guy that I'm playing against.

After that, he tell me about a little bit from his game what he's doing, if he feels more comfortable to hit the ball. But just briefing of him.

We know, my team know, like, the most important thing for me is to think about myself, about my own game. It helps a lot to see, like, how accurate is the serve from the opponents, where he feels more comfortable to serve in some special moments, and when they facing breakpoint down or pressure or, like, pressure point.

It helps a lot to see, you know, where he feels more, like, comfortable to hit. But the rest is just about, like, thinking about me.

Q. When you miss an easy shot, it looks like you're able to erase immediately that mistake and always be positive, having this positive attitude. Is this something that you worked on when you were young or it really comes natural, like it looks like to everybody? For some players, no, is a problem sometimes. You miss an easy shot and you have that negative attitude that everything change. To you, you're always smiling, always, like, nothing happened. How do you do that? Is it natural or do you work on that?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, first of all, I just want to say thank you about it. I want to tell my coach that you said it (smiling). It's something that I work on it, because when I was younger, I was, like, you know, if I missing a shot, I just scream, I just threw the racquet sometimes.

I just filling my mind with negative thoughts all the time, and probably it last one game, two games, negative thoughts in my mind. We realized how important it is to fill the mind with really positive things all the time.

Even when the things are not going well or even if you don't feeling well the ball or you're missing a lot of shots, as much as you filling your mind with positive thoughts, it's gonna turn around things quicker.

That's something that I just working on it. If I miss an easy shot, I try to understand what happened and thinking how I should have done it better, and I just thinking about the next point, and I'm trying to do it the whole match. Sometimes it's really difficult to do it, but it's something that is on my mind and it is a goal in every match.

Q. In the next round you will face Bublik. Recently he said that Jannik and you are untouchable in Grand Slam. Do you agree with him?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, we played the last nine, I don't know, nine Grand Slams, the last nine Grand Slams, but I still don't believe that we are invincible in Grand Slams.

But a player like Bublik, he's top 10, or I think he's still top 10, saying that, you know, it helps a lot for the confidence. Someone like understand the game pretty well as Bublik says, that we cannot lose in a Grand Slam, that help a lot for us to play with a lot of confidence. But to be honest, I'm not really agree with it.

Q. This morning, Fonseca was asked who has the best forehand, and he said, this was the order: Alcaraz, Sinner, Fonseca, Berrettini, Tsitsipas. Do you think this is the correct ranking, or would you change a little bit something?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: That's tricky, and at the same time it's a really pretty good list. Pretty good list from Joao.

I don't know. I could put Andrey Rublev around the list. I could change, right now, I could change Tsitsipas for Felix Auger, for example. I just love Felix Auger's forehand.

Yeah, and the rest is pretty good. Berrettini is on it? Berrettini is 4, right? Yeah, the list is pretty full. So I would like probably Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger to be on that.

Q. Do you consider yourself first?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Yeah, I could feel like myself at the first place (smiling).