Carlos Alcaraz interview: Wimbledon champion on beating Djokovic and Spain’s Euro 2024 title

Carlos Alcaraz arrives at the All England Club with his agent, Albert Molina, to meet Spanish journalists the day after defeating Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. Looking fresh, indicating the gala dinner and celebrations didn’t go on into the wee hours, he’s dressed in sporty attire: a stylish, slightly oversized white sweatshirt, grey sweatpants, and colorful sneakers from his sponsor.

He speaks to the journalists one by one on the player’s terrace, where Djokovic and his team were playing the Spanish board game Parchís in the days before. After the interviews, he’s set for the traditional photoshoot the champions do with the Challenge Cup, the men’s trophy crowned by a golden pineapple. A tournament employee, who happens to be Spanish, brought a Spanish flag from home to add a special touch to the photos, the day after Carlos and the Spanish national football team completed a dream Sunday for the southern European country.

We, the press colleagues, talked about the feeling that you closed an era by beating Djokovic again and now we are in yours. How do you see it?

Well, to be honest, I don’t feel that way. I’ve seen many people saying it’s a generational change, a new era, a change of guard because of Sunday’s match, but in the end, I don’t really see it that way. We try to work as hard as possible to challenge Djokovic. As hard as possible to try to be there every time we can, but I don’t feel like there’s a change of era, a generational shift, or a change of guard, for now.

You also said after the final that you want to keep dreaming. As a 21-year-old from a small town in Murcia, does everything you’re experiencing still seem amazing to you, or have you gotten used to it?

No, no. In the end, I’m still amazed by the things I’m experiencing, by the things I’m achieving, also by the people I get to meet along the way. I’m still on cloud nine. Many times I talk with my friends, especially the ones from my town, about how we’re all still dreaming. They, because they’re living it with someone close to them, and me because I’m living it personally. But the truth is we try to take it as naturally as possible, we try to normalize it. Although with these kinds of things, it’s quite difficult.

When people, thousands of them, cheer for your point, shout, or support you on a court like Centre Court at Wimbledon, what do you feel in that moment, what goes through your mind?

Honestly, as tennis players, it doesn’t affect us much, and we don’t think too much about it. In the end, we’re also focused on the match, on the next point. But, as I said, it makes me very happy that both the people in the stadium watching me and being amazed at some of the points I make, and also the people at home watching me on TV, expecting those points, those shots that characterize me, and in the end, they cheer and shout, for me it’s incredible. The love and support I feel wherever I go, it’s something wonderful.

Do you feel better than last year, fresher for the remainder of the season? Because from the outside, it seems you have planned it well, sometimes because of injuries...

Well, physically fresher, I don’t know. But it is true that I’m a guy who learns from the things I’ve done wrong and tries not to make the same mistake twice. Last year, after Wimbledon, it took a bit of a toll (maybe a kind of relaxing). Not on the American tour, but afterward. And this year we already know what we have to do, where we have to go. And we’re going to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So maybe physically, I’m not going to say I’m fresher. I’m on par, similar, but mentally, I am stronger, and I know the path I have to take.

These days, you’ve been exchanging messages with the guys from the Euro Cup-winning team. Did you receive or send any before and/or after the final?

Yes, yes. When I finished my match, I had a message from Morata, with whom I talk the most and get along with the best. One of the first people I called in the locker room was him, who was walking to the stadium before playing the final. And well, I wished him all the luck in the world. In the end, they also had their things, concentration, logically. Anyway, I had time to wish him luck, and in the end, everything went well.

There’s a parallel between you, a very young champion, 21 years old, and the national team, which also has guys of 17, 22... Do you think that’s good for Spanish sports, having people coming in naturally, with that youthful spirit of good people?

I think so, I think that’s very good. For example, Lamine (Yamal), Nico (Williams), are guys of 17, 22 years old, who have made a difference in these Euros. It was their first time playing with the national team or one of the first times. Their first Euros. And they did it in an incredible way, as if they had an enormous amount of experience. It’s great to see new players in Spain who fight like them, who give their all for the flag, for the country, who stand out. I think it’s wonderful to have a national team or young athletes who show promise, who are on the rise. Hopefully, we will have many years of enjoyment.

Do you identify with them?

Yes, I totally identify with them. It’s like we’re growing little by little, and for the sport to see new faces and be up there at the top, fighting for big things, and I think that’s beautiful.