ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 2, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Carlos, welcome back to Paris. How confident are you to finish the season in style after your big week last week in Vienna?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, obviously winning gives you a lot of confidence. Yeah, this tournament I really want to do great, you know, at some point, to be honest.

Coming into this week, being the champion of Vienna, you know, getting a lot of experience, rhythm, and confidence, I just hope to deliver great tennis and a great level this week.

Excited and looking forward to playing my first match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Congratulations on your win and your winning streak. During your recovery, were you afraid that you couldn't reach the top of your game to feel your shape on court again, or you were sure that you can succeed already in this season?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, it was a long period of time that I was out, so I had a lot of time to think, to feel, and there are some moments that I was sure that I was going to come back at my best. There were some moments that I doubt about myself, I'm not gonna lie.

If I was going to hit the forehand, you know, at my best, at my 100% again, if I'm going to feel the wrist again, if I'm going to be healthy again, there were some doubts about it.

But, you know, I would say that when you're surrounded by great people, great professionals that I am surrounded by, and trust your team at 100%, I would say it's easier to come back.

I'm just really happy that I made a great job and we are here in this position right now.

Q. Five years ago you played against Hugo Gaston in Bercy. What are your memories from that match five years ago? What lessons did you take? Was this match important for your construction as a player, as a man?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I don't have, you know, great memories from that match, to be honest (smiling). It was a tough moment for me. I would say it was the first time that I just felt the pressure from the outside. I'm not going to say if they were wrong or good. They were, you know, supporting their guy, which is fair.

But the lesson that I took from that moment is to not respond, you know, to the crowd or to the people. Just to be focused on myself, to be focused on what's going on on the court, and try not to let that support, that energy affect my game, affect, you know, mentally for me.

So I took the lesson that I remember back in 2021 in that match. I felt the pressure and I felt down, and it was a tough one. But, you know, I learned a lot and I grew a lot from that one.

Q. Welcome back to Paris. Congratulations on the Vienna title, once again. You have spoken before about finding indoor conditions challenging. After winning Vienna, do you feel like you figured out something that makes you more comfortable playing indoors?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I don't know. I feel like every indoor is different. You know, it's different conditions, different everything. You can feel in a certain way, playing a week in Vienna, whatever it is, and going the next week to another place and feeling completely different.

I'm gonna practice tomorrow. I'm going to try to feel myself again in a good way, try to feel the ball the best that I can, and give myself a great shot on Wednesday to deliver great tennis, to feel great on court, and let's see.

But what I know right now is mentally I gotta be strong with the difficulties that I might face in the first round, but let's see what's gonna happen in this week.

Q. Congrats on yesterday. It looked like ahead of Laver Cup you changed your service motion a bit. Seemed like your left foot's up a bit, maybe your toss is a bit lower. Curious, what did you want to get out of that, and what did you want to change?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I have seen the best players in the world, in history. Obviously it's about the height, you know, like how tall are you. It's even issue when you're taller. But the balance of the serve, the best server in the world in history has that balance, you know, from the back to go forward.

I wasn't able to do that before that, so I change a little bit the motion. I changed a little bit, and I try to have more balance and, you know, it's the movement of the serve been a little bit smoother, and I would say that the toss of the ball and the balance is everything on the serve.

So I could say I did a great job, and I have been feeling much better on the serve, and I think Vienna we could see a great improvement on that shot. So I'm just really happy about it.

Q. I just wanted to know if you had already practiced on the court?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Not yet.

Q. Not yet? So you can't speak about the speed?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I talked with some players, and they told me it's a little bit faster than last year. I watched a couple of games from Jodar's match today, and the ball seems to react a little bit different from last year, a little bit faster.

But let's see. I haven't tried yet .

Q. This tournament, Paris Masters, probably one of the rare one we haven't seen you playing really well, going very far. I remember one year quarterfinal or semifinal against Holger, but generally speaking, last year was not a good year. Is there something specific that makes this tournament more difficult for you?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, I don't know. I don't know, to be honest. Yeah, it's a bit, I'm gonna say, yeah, weird, because we've seen, you know, the rest of the tournaments. At some point I have played, you know, good tennis here, the part that I played, I would say, was quarterfinals against Holger, and I haven't played my best tennis here.

Any specific reason for that, I'm not sure. There were some years that I came here not feeling 100%, especially mentally. But there were some years that I felt well, I felt I really wanted to be here playing at my best, I was excited about playing here, and ended up losing first or second round, not playing good tennis.

So not any specific reason for that, but, you know, I'm pretty sure at some point I will do great in this tournament, I will feel the way that I want to feel in this tournament, and it will happen sooner than later.

Q. You mentioned Jodar, that you've got another Spaniard in the top 10 with you this week. Can you talk a bit about his rise, what you've noticed about him, and how much of a threat he can be in the future?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Well, isn't really a threat, you know (smiling). It's unbelievable the way he's playing in his first year on the tour, broke a record of, you know, the amount of days he made it to since he broke the top 100 to the top 10, I think, or something, being up there.

I'm just really happy about him. Such a humble guy, great guy, going with his father as a coach, you know, all around and making great things. Really happy about him.

He deserves to be in this position. Obviously it's great to have, you know, Spanish company in the top 10. We all enjoy his tennis, because every time that I watch him, it's a privilege, it's a joy, and just excited about facing him one day, you know, for the first time, practicing with him, you know, in the tournaments.

Yeah, but for sure, for now, that he already is, you know, to the future, he's gonna be a player to, you know, be aware.