Carlos Alcaraz has shed light on how he handles pressure and his mindset in decisive moments as he revealed a key aspect of his approach is “not a good thing.”
The four-time Grand Slam winner is set to compete at the 2025 Monte Carlo Masters, where he is the No 2 seed.
Speaking on an episode of the Louis Vuitton podcast, Alcaraz discussed a range of topics – and gave a clear definition of his playing style.
“I really want to be aggressive all the time,” he explained. “I really want to get to the net as soon as possible, hit big shots. Playing aggressively, that’s my style.”
The world No 3 divulged that he leans into this aggressive mindset when dealing with pressure in matches.
“I always think that I have to go for it,” Alcaraz continued. “Normally when I feel the pressure is in the tight moments, in the difficult moments in the match that I could lose, I could be down in the match.
“In those moments, it’s like, ‘okay, I have to go for it, I have to play my style, believe in myself.’ If I lose it, I’d feel at least – I really want it to feel like I went for it, it couldn’t happen, so it’s okay. But go for it every time. That helped me a lot to deal with the pressure during the matches.
“When you believe in yourself, when you think that you’re the best in what you’re doing and go for it and go forward all the time, everything is gonna happen, or everything is gonna be easy at least.
“Having that good mindset, it is always helpful. So in tennis, it is pretty important thinking you are the best, you are gonna win every match, you are not gonna lose. In those moments, I am thinking, ‘go for it, you are gonna make it.’
“Sometimes I don’t enjoy. Most of the time I enjoy, I don’t feel the pressure a lot. But sometimes it’s really difficult to separate the pressure and having fun.
“When you’re playing for something really big, when the pressure and nerves are there and it is difficult to deal with. When the things are not going in the way I want to be, it’s tough to accept it sometimes.
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“But yeah, as I said, I think this is the position that I really wanted to be when I was a kid. It’s a dream that I’m coming true, and that’s why I’m trying not to feel or not to think about the pressure and just having fun, because I made my dream.”
The Spaniard admitted matches have slipped away from him as a result of relaxing and losing intensity.
“Sometimes in a match, you relax yourself, ‘okay, I’m winning.’ And you’re starting to play with less intensity, you’re not moving the same way that you were before,” said the 21-year-old.
“That happened to me a few times, and at the end of the match I lost it because of it, so I try to learn from those matches and keep the same intensity all the time.”
Alcaraz went on to suggest that his reliance on instinct in decisive moments can be a problem.
“Sometimes it is instinct, which I think is not a good thing, because sometimes in the decisive moments, in the really close ones, difficult ones, I do what I feel,” he added.
“Sometimes it’s good, sometimes – I think most of the time – it’s not too good. You have to follow a strategy, let’s say a pattern.
“But whatever I feel, I do it. Let’s say to do a dropshot, I do it. If I feel like going to the net, I do it. A lot of times did pretty well, a lot of times did it wrong.”
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