For Carlos Alcaraz, the triumph at Wimbledon and the Ibiza vacations are already in the past. Following his success on the All England Club’s grass, he has already returned to clay-training to get ready for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and increase his chances of taking home the gold medal.
🧱 Vuelta a la tierra batida
🇫🇷 Después de tomarse unos días de descanso, Carlos Alcaraz vuelve a trabajar sobre arcilla para preparar los JJOO.
✈️ El lunes partirá hacia París, donde trabajará con los miembros de la @RFETenis, no con su equipo habitual. pic.twitter.com/3ZKnQaZZ0E
— Germán R. Abril (@gerebit0) July 18, 2024
With the goal of competing at the Olympics in peak form, Alcaraz has returned to training in Murcia, just four days after losing to Djokovic in the final.
Fin de la sesión de entrenamiento para Carlos Alcaraz en su casa. La penúltima antes de marcharse el lunes a París. pic.twitter.com/eFDRNteoMs
— Germán R. Abril (@gerebit0) July 19, 2024
Along with all of his fellow citizens and the representatives of the Spanish Tennis Federation, the 21-year-old will arrive in Paris on Monday of next week. With his wins at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, Alcaraz is perhaps the front-runner to take home the gold medal in the Olympics even though he is now ranked third in the world.
After an amazing run at Wimbledon, the young Spaniard defeated Novak Djokovic in the championship match to successfully defend his title. On this occasion, though, he took control of the match from the very beginning to the very end and beat the Serbian champion in three sets, culminating in a remarkable tie-break.
This is Alcaraz’s fourth major of his career; only Mats Wilander, Bjorn Borg, and Boris Becker have accomplished the same feat at age 21. With the US Open and the Australian Open at his disposal, the Spaniard can become the most successful young player in Slam history—at least theoretically.
In a recent interview with Alex Corretja on Movistar+, the 21-year-old revealed some unexpected thoughts on the Champions League win, emphasizing that it was not one of his greatest performances.
“A good fit and completion. Although it wasn’t one of my better performances, I’m still incredibly proud of what I accomplished. When it came time for me to serve in the match, I felt the pressure too,” he admitted.
Javier de Diego, in a different interview with RNE, asked Carlitos about the circumstances that led to his 5-4 and 40-0 lead in the third set. “I think Djokovic is aware of what to do during that particular stage of the match. He has had numerous experiences like this, winning the match, breaking his opponent, and saving match points. It was a short idea, but obviously I haven’t forgotten all those occasions where he went from having his back to the wall to winning the match. We were aware that we needed to have really strong mental fortitude throughout those points, particularly because the tie-break was required, the player said.
But recently, some racists in Spain have attacked Carlitos for his decision to travel to Ibiza with friends to celebrate winning Wimbledon; after all, isn’t he a 21-year-old boy, does anyone truly not remember? We’ve all been 21 years old.
Alcaraz spent two or three days in Ibiza celebrating, first with his family and subsequently with friends, doing essentially the same thing he did during Roland Garros. Carlos expressed his strong stance to the Spanish media by saying, “Everyone works for goals. Not just in my case, but generally speaking, individuals work to pay for the things they want to enjoy with their loved ones. I think it’s crazy to compete in and win certain competitions, but I also value my personal time. I don’t want to feel like I have to play tennis all the time and then have no free time. These brief vacations to Ibiza help me unwind and recuperate, and they are crucial in enabling me to come back to the court fully charged
billed,” he statedAlcaraz spent two to three days in Ibiza celebrating, first with his family and subsequently with friends, replicating what he had done almost exactly after Roland Garros. Carlos expressed his unambiguous stance to the Spanish media by saying, “Everyone works toward goals. In general, people labor to afford things, and when they do, they enjoy them with the people they love. I’m not just talking about myself. It drives me mad to compete in and win specific competitions, but I also need personal time. Not feeling like a tennis slave and then having no free time is what I want to avoid. My brief vacations to Ibiza help me unwind, so it’s crucial that I can return to the court feeling refreshed.
Carlos Alcaraz is only the sixth male player to win the French Open and Wimbledon singles trophy in the same year since 1968 👏
Elite company for the Spaniard 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/ggDb4HSKCb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 14, 2024