Carlos Alcaraz’s Rest and Relaxation Strategy Leads Him to Quarterfinals at Roland Garros

Evasive, Carlos Alcaraz limited himself on Sunday to answering that he had to “debate” with his team if the day after having achieved the pass to the quarterfinals in Paris, he was going to exercise on the track or rest, a habit that he has definitely incorporated into this tour of the great french Early this Monday, his name was missing from the tournament training program again, for the fourth time in a row between matches. “I have not trained and it has been good for me”, he commented a couple of days ago, without wanting to contribute more on a matter that his team, they specify, have decided to “deal with internally”.

In any case, the results have so far been more than positive. The 20-year-old from Murcia has resolved the first four rounds with relative ease and in his last appearance, against Lorenzo Musetti, he multiplied his performance. Rest – preventive work in the hotel, gym, physiotherapy and controlled nutrition – works for him and naps before duels too. He treats Alcaraz to air his mind and try not to get eaten by the competition, escaping with his people – family, team and friends – and clearing his mind by visiting some of the emblematic places of the French capital such as the Eiffel Tower.

“A tennis player does not have much free time during the year, because when I go to compete I am very focused on training and off-court routines. I keep many childhood friends and when I spend free time in Murcia I am with them a lot, although I must be responsible when it comes to mixing leisure with professional life ”, he warns; “It is key to have my people here, to be able to go for a walk, make jokes and disconnect a bit from tennis. I am fortunate that I also consider my team part of my family and that gives me a lot of balance and peace during tournaments”.

He has adopted the habit of sleeping – “between 30 and 40 minutes” – and is imitated by tonight’s rival (8:30 p.m., Eurosport) in the center, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. A nod before starting to rally gave a plus two days ago to number five in the ATP, who defines himself as an “artistic” tennis player and who collects any element that allows him to reverse the situation against the Spaniard, who has always defeated.

“Relax, brother”

“I don’t usually do it, but for the first time in a long time I slept before the game. I don’t know to what extent it has helped me or not, but I felt good”, commented the Greek after reducing the Austrian Sebastian Offner on Sunday, after having previously gotten rid of Jiri Vesely, Roberto Carballés and Diego Schwartzman; “I think it’s a good way to recharge before playing, as long as it’s not an hour or two, because then it could be a problem; I don’t want to be slow and heavy, I try to avoid it”.

The Athenian has lost the four games he has played so far against Alcaraz, who is looking to access the penultimate round of Roland Garros for the first time and who has mentally disarmed his opponent. He beat him in New York when his beard was just beginning to grow and last year he beat him in Miami and Barcelona; This season, the correction was even more severe in the Godó final, in which there was a more than considerable distance between one and the other. “Relax, brother, and leave something for the others,” the Greek dedicated to him, half joking, half seriously. And Alcaraz, who follows in the footsteps of the Swiss Roger Federer – a supporter of saving strength before matches, especially in their final stage – is applied to safeguard his physique.

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