Carlos Alcaraz endured his most complicated match at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Tommy Paul, and after the match, he spoke about his fitness struggles at the event.
The 2024 Paris Olympics have proven to be a really tricky event for many players, and not just because it's a big event, which is important to many, but also because of the pride tied to representing their country.
On top of that, the conditions have been brutal, with very warm weather, and more than a few athletes have struggled. We've seen Novak Djokovic struggle with his knee again, and Alcaraz hasn't had the best time either.
His tennis has been fire, and he's played like the top favorite that he is, but he has not been feeling his best physically. It is something that could be sometimes spotted during play, but he's done his best to try and play as well as he can because his tennis relies a lot on his physicals.
Speed and burst are central to his game on the tennis court, and against Paul, the Spaniard played on pure determination, as he explained after the match.
"Today was a fight, pure fight, pure determination. Physically, I am not at my best, we are not going to fool ourselves. Today I woke up quite tired because of yesterday, which was quite intense."
"We are in the Olympics, playing for Spain, which for me is one of the most beautiful things in the world and that is what drives you up and what makes me not think about the tiredness, but give everything I have."
Playing both the singles and doubles is certainly something new for Alcaraz, who had to learn to navigate the situation. At the moment, he has only his singles tournament left, which will benefit his pursuit of gold, but it left a physical mark on him.
One of the most crucial moments of his match against Paul was fighting back from a break down in the second set. In his current state, the last thing he needed was a three-set match, and he pushed hard to break back and avoid that.
Luckily for him, he was able to muster some inspiration and fight for every ball, escaping in the second-set tiebreak to secure the medal rounds.
"I went out on the court trying to play with a lot of intensity. I knew that Paul was a very electric player, he has great shots and I had to be very attentive, fight for every ball."
"In the second set I began to notice that fatigue, but I remember that I'm not playing for myself alone, but for all the Spaniards and that's what motivates me to fight until the last ball."
He only has to play two more matches in the French capital, and the Spaniard will certainly be very motivated to win a medal. The fatigue and fitness struggles won't go away overnight, but he will give it his all and not let it affect him.
In the semi-final, he will play against Felix Auger-Aliassime, and if he wins, he will clash with the winner of the match between Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti for the gold medal.
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