“Every match is final of Grand Slam,” Carlos Alcaraz prepared for a dogfight as he keeps semis hopes alive in the 2023 ATP Finals

This is Alcaraz's maiden appearance at the season-ender, despite having qualified last year.

“Every match is final of Grand Slam,” Carlos Alcaraz prepared for a dogfight as he keeps semis hopes alive in the 2023 ATP Finals

Former World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz revealed that every match at the ATP Finals was equivalent to a Grand Slam final. The Spaniard had a disappointing start to his maiden ATP Final campaign. However, he defeated Andrey Rublev in the second match, keeping his hopes for a title alive.

Ever since his semi-final loss to Daniil Medvedev at the 2023 US Open, Alcaraz has been having quite a disappointing couple of months. He has not been able to play at his best level on account of injury. He had faced a disappointing second-round exit at the Paris Masters in the hands of Roman Safiullin.

However, he had hoped for a comeback performance at his maiden ATP Finals appearance. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he had lost to Alexander Zverev in the first round-robin match. However, he had gained back his momentum with a straight-set win against Andrey Rublev.

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"I think the most difficult thing is how fast the court is. We play the whole season on very slow conditions. Coming here it's really fast. It's a bit difficult to adjust to this court. But at the same time, I like it, " said the Spanish youngster.

He had admitted that the ATP Finals demanded purely unique forms from the players on account of the pace of the game. However, Alcaraz applauded the court for these unique conditions.

He also admitted that this feeling was distinctive to playing indoors.

"That's the best thing about playing indoors. Every match here could be a final of a Grand Slam, " Alcaraz added.

The Nitto ATP Finals is one of the most important tournaments for a tennis player, after the Grand Slams. Therefore, it is only fair that the tournament poses its own individual challenges.

Carlos Alcaraz points out what makes the ATP Finals stand apart from other tour events

Carlos Alcaraz explained the change in mindset needed to take part in the ATP Finals as compared to other tour-level events. The ATP Finals has been described as one of the most important tournaments by many tennis players.

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz(Image via Marca.com)
"That's the difference coming into this tournament. Your mindset has to change a bit. Every match is a final, " said Alcaraz.

He revealed that preparation for every match at the ATP Finals required as much training as before a Grand Slam final. He also admitted that the preparation for each match must be quite extensive, including the warm-ups before the matches.

You have to think about the preparation and how it's gonna be. That's the difference between this tournament and the other ones.

The Spaniard has a 1-1 score at the 2023 ATP Finals. He is set to face Daniil Medvedev in a rematch of the US Open semi-final. This will determine his future in the event.

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