Alcaraz explains Roland-Garros turnaround: “I was mentally stronger than last year”

When Carlos Alcaraz felt the cramps coming on, during his semi-final clash with Jannik Sinner at Roland-Garros on Friday, he didn’t panic. One year after the tension and stress got to him to the point where he couldn’t cope against Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard knew he had a problem. But he coped, he shook them off and he made his way back into the match before winning it in a deciding set.

“The cramps in this match, it wasn’t as much here as last year,” he said. “But yeah, I’m gonna say I’m stronger mentally. I knew how to deal with these situations. I knew that the cramps is going to go away if I stay there. I know that everything what I have to do if — well, the situations.

“The cramping, I knew that I have to stay there. I knew that probably I have to make shorter the points. So I knew much better how to do it this year than last year.”

Playing with his heart

Trailing by a set, Alcaraz’s coach, the former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, told him to play with his heart, something the Wimbledon champion usually does. He didn’t hear the advice, but he knew what to do.

“But is something that I have very, very much playing with the head, playing with the heart, and the rest, everybody knows that. Playing with passion, playing with the dream of a little kid who dreamt about playing in these situations, I’m going to say that.”

Tactical changes made the difference

More tactically, Alcaraz said he had to make some changes to get the better of Sinner, who steamrolled him in the first set.

“I knew that I had to change a little bit my shots,” he said. “Of course I told myself that it’s gonna be a long match. It is a Grand Slam, that he had to win two more sets. So it was going to be a long match, so I have to stay positive, to stay there.

“I change a little bit my shots. A few shots I’m gonna say 50 percent with a lot of high, and then try to take more in the court, to stay more aggressive than him because at the beginning of the match he was controlling the match very, very well.

“So running, I didn’t put him in trouble, in a bad position. In the second set I tried to reverse that situations, to put him in the bad positions that make me stay on the court and hitting good shots. That’s what I changed.”

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