US OPEN

September 9, 2026

Alexander Blockx

Press Conference

K. KHACHANOV/A. Blockx

6-2, 7-5, 3-2 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Alex, great tournament. Valiant effort tonight. Your thoughts?

ALEXANDER BLOCKX: Yeah, thanks. Yeah, I think today my body just gave up. As I said two days ago, I had it really difficult physically already. Against Francisco, I was on the verge of retiring, and today was, yeah, just kept getting worse.

I was still feeling my rib a lot. My leg, I was still feeling my leg. Then in the second set, I blocked a nerve in my back, which yeah, was even worse to move. I wasn't able to move too well already, and that made it even worse.

So, yeah, I was just waiting for him to break me. You know, you never know what's going to happen. I was just waiting until the very end for me, which was realistic, and then, yeah, I didn't want to risk to make anything worse than it was already.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Again, congratulations on your run. How does it feel? This is by far the farthest you have ever made it at a slam and especially here at the US Open. How does it feel to have accomplished this much and to have set this new standard for yourself?

ALEXANDER BLOCKX: Yeah, I think I definitely got further than I expected before the tournament. I think I finally understand how physical the slams are. It's totally different from, yeah, the usual ATP tournaments where it's best-of-three.

Here it's, yeah, you also realize how impressive it is from the top guys who win it more times in a row. Yeah, I think what I'm taking with me is that, yeah, of course, it was a really, really good experience, a really good run for me, but I always want to do better.

Yeah, I will definitely learn from this, improve physically, maybe figure out how we can, yeah, notice things quicker during the tournament if anything goes wrong.

But for me, my standard remains the same. I don't feel like a different player now. I always try to improve, and I hope I'll have many more chances like this, yeah.

Q. Wondering what the emotion is, as all these things are happening? Are you sort of sad that it keeps happening? Are you angry, I already have this, now this, now this? What's in your mind there?

ALEXANDER BLOCKX: To be honest, during the match, it was quite funny to me. I just had to laugh it off (smiling), because it was just something new the whole time. I think it was just my body that started compensating, as well.

I was starting to do different motions than I usually do just to avoid the pain. As you probably saw, my serve in the first set was, yeah, not as it usually is, just because I was afraid to feel a lot of pain.

Then in the second set, I had the feeling that it was getting a little bit better, but yeah, then my back got blocked. Yeah, I felt like the last two matches I was more fighting myself in the head to somehow stay on the court.

Yeah, compared to the previous matches, I was really focused on my tennis, and I was thinking more clear than the last two matches. I was just trying to survive more.

To be honest, I'm proud of how I played, even though I, yeah, wasn't -- yeah, that I was far from my best physically, yeah.

Q. Regarding the decision about when to retire in the match, was it based more on your body or really how the match was progressing?

ALEXANDER BLOCKX: Yeah, you never know what can happen. You know, maybe he can make a bad movement, he can twist his ankle. You never know. So I just always have that in mind.

That's something, like, a miracle on my side can happen. But why I retired is just because I felt it was getting worse and worse. I couldn't land without feeling pain, without feeling my back, my ribs. So I just didn't want to yeah, maybe make it worse to miss the entire season.

So I think, yeah, I fought in my head until the last point until I got broken. Honestly, I was waiting for him to break me, because I was feeling so bad on the court. Yeah, eventually, I felt like it was the right moment, yeah.

Q. Karen is back in another major semifinal. I'm just curious what in particular stands out about his game at the moment?

ALEXANDER BLOCKX: To be honest with you, I wasn't really busy with his game today. I was a lot in my head thinking about how to move or how to hit without pain. So I wasn't really, yeah, paying to attention to what he was doing.

Of course he was playing well. He was serving well, very solid from the baseline. I think he's just a really good, underrated player.

Yeah, I think a lot of people don't see or don't appreciate his qualities enough. But, yeah, he's definitely a favorite here, I would say.

Q. On a bit of a lighter note, you played in the 2022 boys tournament here. I'm curious, reflecting on the player you were then, the growth you had until now, what are you most proud of?

ALEXANDER BLOCKX: Yeah, it's quite a long time ago. I think I improved a lot on the physical part. I was a small stick back then (smiling).

Yeah, and also just in general, my game. I think I'm playing more aggressive now. My endurance is better. I make better decisions on court.

Yeah, I think it has been a fun journey so far. If you told me back then that I would be playing quarterfinals here four years later, I would definitely have signed the paper.

So, yeah, I can't complain, yeah.