Carlos Alcaraz and the nerves of playing at Wimbledon | ATP Tour

Wimbledon

Alcaraz and the nerves of playing at Wimbledon

The Spaniard will face Novak Djokovic in the final

July 12, 2024

On Friday afternoon, Wimbledon’s Centre Court bids farewell to Carlos Alcaraz until Sunday, when he faces Novak Djokovic for the title, with a resounding ovation. As he heads off to the locker room, the 21-year-old also leaves behind all the nerves that accompanied him during his semi-final match against Daniil Medvedev, and which usually accompany him when he steps out onto one of the most prestigious stages in the world of sport.

These nerves, however, are positive if they are channelled in the right way, as Alcaraz knows well.

“At Roland Garros I may not have talked about nerves, although they were obviously there,” explained the Spaniard after beating Medvedev in four sets. “Maybe in that tournament I controlled them a little better, except in the final… There they took a toll on me a bit, especially in the first sets,” continued the Murcia native, recalling the match against Alexander Zverev, whom he defeated in five sets.

“Wimbledon, playing on Centre Court, makes me a little more nervous because of everything it entails; because of how I see the tournament and Centre Court, perhaps differently than others,” Alcaraz reflected on the third Grand Slam of the season. “It’s something we’re working on: obviously, controlled nerves are very good and very necessary, but when they get out of control a little, or you don’t know how to manage them, they play against you,” he continued. “Today, perhaps in the first set it was a little difficult for me, even though I played good tennis and played well. Maybe that’s what I lacked to be able to win it: managing my nerves a little better, which then went much better in the other three sets.”

Wimbledon is a special tournament, there is no doubt about that. And Alcaraz, who is in love with an event that he has played on four occasions, reaching the grand final on two of them (2023 and 2024).

“Since I started the tournament I haven’t thought that I’m the reigning champion,” Alcaraz said. “The only goal was to get better every day.”

On Sunday, when he goes out to defend his crown against Djokovic (3-2 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series for the Serbian), Alcaraz will have a good handful of those nerves in his stomach, but he will know how to turn them into energy on the road to the challenge of beating Nole again at Wimbledon.

Almost nothing.