Carlos Alcaraz: “I’m coming to the Davis Cup motivated and eager”

Madrid., Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz said on Monday that he is “motivated” and “really looking forward” to the Davis Cup Finals, with the group stage in Valencia and the possible Final 8 in Malaga, and with a bit of a break and above all more training after the end of a North American tour that did not go well, especially due to his early elimination in the second round at the US Open.

“Mentally I’m going in with a lot of desire and motivation to keep training and keep improving for what’s to come. And physically, the truth is that I’ve done a good job since I lost in New York to be at an optimal level and be ready to face the Davis Cup in the best possible way,” he said at a press conference.

Alcaraz reiterated that he is “pretty good.” “I am really looking forward to and motivated to play the Davis Cup. We play here in Spain, in Valencia and at home, which we are not very used to playing at home and I am really looking forward to feeling the affection of the people and to experience another Davis Cup, which I have not been able to play many,” he acknowledged.

And that comes after not being able to play his best tennis at the US Open. “I couldn’t train as much as I would have liked and get there in the best possible shape. So, well, it’s an experience that I will learn from and for the future things will surely go better,” said the Murcia native.

“It’s been a tour that I really expected to do better, I haven’t been able to play matches, I haven’t been able to play at the level I would have liked to play. In the end it’s very difficult to perform at 100%, to perform at the level you want every day,” he lamented.

“In the end, I think this is tennis, anything can happen, you have to be prepared to accept things as they come and well, now that several weeks and days have passed since I lost in New York, I am clearly thinking about the team,” he said, already thinking about this Davis Cup with Spain.

The Pavelló Municipal Font de Sant Lluís in Valencia, where Group B of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals will be played from the 10th to the 15th of this month, will see Carlos Alcaraz playing for Spain alongside Pedro Martínez Portero, Roberto Bautista, Pablo Carreño and Marcel Granollers.

The Spaniards, with David Ferrer as captain, will be looking for one of the two places at stake — in a group completed by France, the Czech Republic and Australia — for the Final 8 for the title that will be decided in Malaga from November 19 to 24.