"They tell me they suffer more than me" - Carlos Alcaraz jokes about putting his team through 'a lot of tension' after close-fought Wimbledon 3R win
Carlos Alcaraz won a hard-fought battle against Frances Tiafoe in the third round of the ongoing Wimbledon Championships. After the match, the Spaniard thanked his team for their support and joked about how he puts them through a lot of tension.
Tiafoe warned Alcaraz before their match that he was 'coming after' the Spaniard. The defending champion responded to the caution with a similar warning. Eventually, the pair were evenly matched on the court for a major part of the match.
They broke each other halfway in the first set, but Tiafoe outclassed Alcaraz to take the first set. Alcaraz's emphatic response helped him take the second set. Tiafoe went after Alcaraz in the third set and broke him with great difficulty at 4-3 to eventually win the set.
The fourth set went into a tiebreaker, but Alcaraz was unphased as he took a 5-0 lead to win the set. The defending champion comfortably won the deciding set to win the match 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2.
During his on-court interview, Alcaraz was asked how his team copes with the 'tension' he puts them through. The 21-year-old said that his team tells him they suffer more than him.
“They always tell me they suffer more than me... Watching from the box, having the feeling that they can’t do anything is really difficult to deal with. They’re really helpful support," Carlos Alcaraz said.
He was grateful for his team's support, which included his coach, former World No. 1 player Juan Carlos Ferrero.
"Having my family and team saying ‘Come on let’s go… one more ball. One more point…’ It's always helpful. And yeah, probably, matches like this one without them, it's impossible to win," he added.
Carlos Alcaraz has won 14 out of 16 matches at Wimbledon
With his win over Frances Tiafoe, Carlos Alcaraz registered his 14th win out of 16 matches at Wimbledon. Only tennis legends Rod Laver (16) and Boris Becker (15) registered more wins than the Spaniard from their first 16 singles matches at SW19.
Moreover, Alcaraz has also become the third youngest man in the Open Era to win 10+ consecutive matches in different Grand Slam singles events (US Open and Wimbledon). Only Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander were younger than the 21-year-old when they achieved this feat.
Alcaraz is set to take on the winner of the match between USA’s Brandon Nakashima and Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the round of 16.