Carlos Alcaraz said yesterday he finds it “tough to believe” he is Wimbledon champion as the Spaniard prepares to play the Hopman Cup mixed team tournament in France days after his triumph in London. “Thinking I won Wimbledon is tough to believe. I can’t believe that I won and beat Novak (Djokovic), probably it will take some days to believe,” Alcaraz told journalists.
On Sunday, Alcaraz beat Djokovic in five sets to win the second Grand Slam title of his career.
“Since Wimbledon I didn’t touch the racquet, today will be the first time,” said Alcaraz, who takes on 111th-ranked Belgian David Goffin.
“I’m a little bit tired, I’m not going to lie,” he said.
“I had some days off to rest a little bit. I’m feeling great right now. I’m here to make people happy watching the match.”
The world number one battled past seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic after a defeat to the Serb in the French Open semi-finals during which he suffered cramp.
But the 20-year-old believes that he was “not well prepared mentally” before the Paris claycourt tournament.
“I couldn’t deal with the pressure that Novak put on. I relaxed, doing some mental exercise before the match that probably I didn’t do in Roland Garros, that helped me a lot.”
In Nice, Alcaraz teams up with 72nd-ranked Rebeka Masarova, against the Belgium pairing of Goffin and Elise Mertens.
“We’re not used to playing with women, mixed doubles. I wanted to have this experience,” he continued.
“It feels great. I’m really happy and excited to be here.”
After the Hopman Cup, Alcaraz will compete in the Masters 1000 in Toronto from August 7 and Cincinnati from August 13.
“Right now my focus is on Toronto, which is a Masters 1000 and really important, and Cincinatti, but of course the main goal is the US Open,” he added of the final Grand Slam of the year which begins on August 21 and where he will defend his title.
Musetti reaches second
semi-final of season in Bastad, Ruud advancesLorenzo Musetti earned a comeback victory yesterday to reach his second tour-level semi-final of the season at the Nordea Open. The Italian moved past Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Competing on the clay at the ATP 250 event in Bastad, Musetti improved as the match went on, moving freely and demonstrating great touch to pull Misolic around the court throughout the two-hour and six-minute clash.
Musetti, who survived a three-set scare in his first-round match against countryman Matteo Arnaldi, now holds a 14-9 record on clay this year, with his best result a run to the semi-finals at the ATP 500 in Barcelona.
The third seed is chasing his third tour-level title and first of the season in Bastad. He will continue his quest against top seed Casper Ruud.
The Norwegian Ruud defeated Austrian Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 19-6 on clay this year.
Ruud, who is into his fourth tour-level semi-final of 2023, has fond memories in Bastad, lifting the trophy in 2021.
The World No. 4 is chasing his 11th tour-level crown and second of the season after triumphing in Estoril.
“It was another tricky day in the wind here in Bastad,” Ruud said. “I am very happy to be through in two sets and of course when it is windy, it is tough to feel that you are playing great all the time. But it was good enough, steady enough.”
In other action, Andrey Rublev swept aside Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-3 to improve to 2-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
The second seed was strong on serve throughout the 69-minute clash.
He won 80 per cent (24/30) of points on his first-serve delivery and saved both break points he faced to reach his fifth tour-level semi-final of the season.
Rublev reached the semi-finals on debut in Bastad last year and will be aiming to make it one step further when he meets fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo in the last four.
The defending champion Cerundolo defeated Federico Coria 6-3, 6-3.
Earlier this year, the 25-year-old Rublev captured the biggest title of his career on clay when he lifted his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Monte-Carlo. He is now 16-4 on the surface in 2023.