“Tennis is just a game”: After his best match this year at Wimbledon, Alcaraz knows how to build his confidence
He might lose sets, but Carlos Alcaraz adapts his tennis to the conditions and his feelings in the moment. He’s learned how to do that the cool way – and it’s paying off.
Carlos Alcaraz, Wimbledon 2025 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
“Don’t look at the scores, look at the match.” This advice from Patrick Mouratoglou during Roland-Garros could just as well apply to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon 2025.
After beating Andrey Rublev in the fourth round on Sunday (6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4), the defending champion dropped a set for the third time this tournament – after losing two against Fabio Fognini and one against Jan-Lennard Struff. Yet he continues to roll, extending his winning streak to 22 matches and making it 31 wins in his last 32 outings since his early loss to David Goffin in Miami.
Alcaraz : “Different conditions”
“I just played my best match of the tournament so far. I’m feeling great,” Alcaraz said, when asked to compare his current form to his level at Roland-Garros 2025 or Wimbledon 2024.
“This year, it’s a different kind of tennis for me at Wimbledon. The conditions feel different: slower balls, slower courts, different sensations. At the French Open, it was totally different because I’d played more clay matches beforehand. Right now, I’m just trying to find the right feeling. And today, I’m really proud and happy I found it. It was much better than in my previous matches. Hopefully I can keep that going and feel even more comfortable.”
Now 22, Alcaraz has clearly learned how to manage his emotions and physical sensations to peak when it matters during the matches. His encounter against Rublev had its ups and downs – his forehand wasn’t always reliable, and Rublev spent more time dictating play – but the Spaniard raised his level when he needed it most, especially on serve, where he hit 22 aces.
I keep repeating: ‘You can do it, let’s go’
“Tennis is really a mental sport. How you talk to yourself is really, really important throughout the whole match,” he explained. “I try to be as positive as I can. Sometimes that’s really difficult. There are so many thoughts going through your mind during a long match. But I try to tell myself: this moment will pass. I fill my mind with positive thoughts. I keep repeating: ‘You can do it, let’s go,’ – all the little things that help me play my best without fear and stay aggressive with my A game. That’s the internal dialogue that matters most.”
Speaking in Spanish, he added: “Mistakes and winners definitely influence your confidence and your decisions to change or keep a tactic. But of course, the crowd also plays a very important role. For me, it’s important to enjoy myself, to do different things, and to try to entertain the fans. We try to use their affection and support to lift ourselves in key moments and gain confidence.”
Alcaraz’s optimism
Now a five-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz is still on track to become the first man since Björn Borg (1979, 1980) to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, two years in a row. But he’s not fixated on that history. “At the end of the day, tennis is just a game. How we feel – on the court and off — is what I value most now,” he said.
“Sometimes you give too much importance to things that, when you stop and think, really aren’t that important – like results, ranking points, or people’s expectations that you’ll make it to the final rounds. Honestly, that’s not what matters most to me anymore. What truly matters is how I feel, both on and off the court. It took me a while to realize that. But thanks to that realization, I think I’m playing better tennis – and things are going well lately. And if they weren’t, that would be okay too.”
