Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – “As I said before the tournament, my goal was to play this type of match and, above all, to do so in good health. It was a very close match, so I'm not particularly disappointed that I didn't win in the end. I'm proud of myself, of how I fought throughout the match.
I'm leaving New York with a smile and in good health, and that's what I needed. I'm going home happy." These are the words of Carlos Alcaraz after his fifth-set tie-break defeat to Ben Shelton in the US Open quarterfinals.
“It’s always difficult to lose matches like this, but you have to look at things with the right perspective,” underlines the winner of seven Grand Slams.
I train hard every day to experience emotions like today. I think it was a magical evening, we both played fantastic tennis, and it means a lot to me to have reached this level.
I missed all of this: the difficulty of finding solutions during matches, the suffering, the enthusiasm of the crowd. Now I'll go home. I want to rest and then train hard and compete for the rest of the year because there are important tournaments coming up."
The 23-year-old Spaniard praises his opponent's performance and makes no excuses.
“After the third set, I was really tired physically, but I found a way to push myself a little further and keep giving it my all. In the fifth set, I started to feel better and better, but I was playing against one of the best. Shelton is a beast, an incredible player, very powerful, and he knew how to play very well in every situation. He deserves all the praise. Tennis is like that, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I think that in the decisive moments of the match, he made the most of his serve. It's not an excuse, but I'd say the serve is a fundamental weapon in a tight match,” concludes the 23-year-old Spaniard.
sport
webinfo@adnkronos.com (Web Info)