15.11.2024 Alcaraz after defeating Rublev in the final: I tried to forget that I was feeling bad. I did well and surprised myself

Carlos Alkraas shared his emotions from his victory over Andrey Rublev in the final. The Spaniard won the group stage match with a score of 6:3, 7:6 (8).
– I could play better, but I have been suffering from health problems for the last week. Today I felt that I was getting better. It felt normal enough for me to be able to play.
In the first match, I thought a lot about the fact that I was sick and couldn’t fight. Today I wanted to go out on the court and just show high-level tennis and try to make the fans happy. Because when I left the court after the first match, I felt that I had not pleased the crowd and had not played good tennis. I tried to do that today – I think my tennis was very good.  
– Given that you didn’t feel 100%, did you surprise yourself?
– Yes, very much. I was surprised by the way I played on the back line and served. I was very calm - I tried to concentrate on the game and forget that I was feeling bad and all that. As soon as you step on the court, you forget about all the problems that exist off the court. You try to focus on how well you hit forehands and backhands and creating a good game plan. I think I did well and surprised myself.
In the last matches I couldn`t shorten well, and I thought: What`s going on? My style and game is based on them and the fact that I enjoy my tennis. So today I tried to do that.
I also ran well and played on the back line. I had several scenarios in case I couldn’t do it. But I`m very glad that I managed to carry out plan A.