“It’s not easy to play against Novak. He is a legend in our sport. I was really struggling, I’ve never felt so nervous as I did in this match.”메이저사이트

Men’s singles quarterfinal match of the French Open 2023 (Roland Garros) at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on Monday (Sept. 9).

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, 20, Spain, spoke after his 1-3 (3-6, 7-5, 1-6, 1-6) loss to No. 3 Novak Djokovic, 36, Serbia, in which he suffered a muscle cramp while receiving a ball early in the third set.

Alcaraz did not play normally from the third set onwards. He said after the match: “If someone plays Novak and says they don’t care and go to the court, they’re lying. The tension of the match was the reason for the cramps. I started the match really nervous.”

“The first and second sets were really, really intense, and I started to get cramps in my arms. In the third set, I started to get cramps, not just in my legs, but in every part of my body. It was really hard to move, and in the fourth set I had some chances, but it was really hard.”

“I would have felt sorry for myself if I had pulled out. When I thought about the fourth set, I realized that I had a 1% chance of coming back.”

Djokovic, who is 16 years older, said he went through the same thing when he was younger: “It’s part of the learning curve. It’s part of the experience. Alcaraz is only 20 years old, he has plenty of time. He’s shown a lot of maturity in the last few years,” he consoled him.

Alcaraz has met Djokovic only once before, in the singles quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event, on clay in May last year, winning 2-1 (6-7<5-7>, 7-5, 7-6<7-5>). Even then, it was a close match.

Alcaraz won his first career Grand Slam men’s singles title at the 2022 US Open last year at the age of 19, and it was the second time he had reached a Grand Slam men’s singles quarterfinal. He missed the Australian Open this year due to injury.

Djokovic, who has been described as a flawless player, will face world number four Kasper Lourdes (24-Norway) in the final. Lourdes defeated No. 7 Alexander Tsverev (26-Germany) 3-0 (6-3, 6-4, 6-0) in the quarterfinals.

With his victory over Rood, Djokovic surpassed Rafael Nadal (37-Spain) to become the all-time leader in Grand Slam men’s singles titles (23). It will also be his third title at Roland Garros, and he will regain the world No. 1 ranking.

Rood reached the final of the French Open last year, where he was runner-up to Nadal. He also reached the final of the US Open that year, losing to Alcaraz.

Djokovic leads the head-to-head series with four wins. The men’s singles final between Djokovic and Lourdes will begin at 10 p.m. ET on Nov. 11. will broadcast the match live.