Alcaraz, on winning again in Vienna: “I had to run, fight and sweat a lot, but I enjoyed it”

Carlos Alcaraz made a last-minute change to its schedule, forced by the cancellation of the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament, postponed until December due to geopolitical instability in Riyadh, whose airport was recently attacked. Faced with the gap between his early defeat in Shanghai and the Paris Masters dispute, the Spaniard decided to cover it by entering Vienna.

He was not on the list of participants, he accessed the list of participants with an invitation from the organization. He had only participated in this ATP 500 indoor event on hard court in its beginnings, in 2021, when at the age of 18 he reached the semifinals.

He returned with a hard-fought victory over the Russian Karen Khachanov, by 6-4 and 7-6 (5). “It’s incredible, the stadium was full in the first round. Already in 2021, I left the court thinking that this crowd has something special,” he said. Carlos Alcaraz in the interview immediately after his victory.

Delighted with the atmosphere, to which the tennis players also contributed. “We made spectacular shots and points. It was to enjoy it, it was a very fun game to watch. I’m very happy, really,” said the Murcian.

He stressed that “I had to run, walk and sweat a lot, but I enjoyed it.” The duel could have ended earlier, with three match balls at 5-4. “I could have played better, not so fast, a couple of those two points. I was very fast, I forced more than necessary and made some mistakes, but I was playing very well, I was happy with my level,” he reflected.

He insisted even though he was 5-6 down, that he had to break to reach the tiebreak. “I had a great tiebreak, it was time to be mentally strong, to keep fighting, to give myself another chance, as it was,” he said.

He will not know his rival in the round of 16, on Thursday, until this Wednesday afternoon, when they face the Austrian Jurij Rodionov and the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.