"I am working on my nerves. Having nerves is normal, it's a good thing, but I have to control them. In Roland Garros, I did better in that sense, except in the final, but here at Wimbledon I feel more tense. Maybe it's what the tournament generates in me, playing on this Centre Court, I don't know," acknowledges Carlos Alcaraz, and it seems so logical and natural, but it's somewhat of a revolution. A paradigm shift. Until a few years ago, most stars repeated that they controlled their feelings at will, that only positive thoughts fit in their minds, and of course, they didn't suffer from nerves. Nerves, ha!, losers' stuff.
Many sports psychology professionals still argue that admitting a weakness in public is a mistake, but Alcaraz shows that something is changing. On the verge of another Wimbledon final this Sunday, his second consecutive final, against Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam myth, the Spaniard understands that his maturity lies in his mind more than in his serve, forehand, or backhand.
"When I feel very nervous, I opt for a drop shot, for a hot shot, a complicated shot, because they relax me. They give me confidence, they help me regain my game, to have fun again," explains the 21-year-old who can already count his fourth major. So far, he has won every Grand Slam final he has played, denying that he suffers from nerves, but the nerves are there, indeed they are.
"For me, this is the aspect in which he is growing the most, although it's still difficult for him. He is a very emotional player, but he handles it better and has realized that mental strength wins matches. He is working on it. For example, against Djokovic, he knows he has to start better than last year [lost the first set 6-1], calmer, to face the match head-on," analyzes his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who acknowledges that this calmness is not easy to achieve.
As Alcaraz admitted, it will help him to have already experienced a final at the All England Club, to know what awaits him in the hours before, the minutes before. As Ferrero assured, everyone on his team knows the importance of him being fresh, that's why they went golfing again yesterday and today they will probably be joking around until it's time to step onto the court. But serenity doesn't just appear out of nowhere.
"He was already a child with a lot of activation"
"There is no magic wand that makes nerves disappear, and in fact, it's not necessary. Nerves are just a mix of feelings like competitive anxiety, which is good, it can be transformed into activation. Carlos has been preparing for this his whole life. When we started working together, one of the first learning factors was how to deal with these stress peaks, but it's clear that it requires continuous training like technique or tactics," analyzes Josefina Cutillas, a sports psychologist who accompanied Alcaraz in adolescence, in his growth, in his early steps in the elite.
"Back then, Carlos was already a child with a lot of activation, I wouldn't say nervous. He needed to find resources to focus that activation, but emotionally he was always very balanced. Naturally, he didn't dwell too long on victory or defeat, and that's very positive for an athlete," adds Cutillas, pointing out the exercises that the current world number three can do to find calm. One of them is very simple: mentally review or watch again on YouTube last year's Wimbledon final and remember that he already came back and beat Djokovic (1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4).
This time other factors favor him, like Djokovic's recent surgery or the feud he's having these days with the English crowd -Nole was booed in the quarterfinals and semifinals-, but Alcaraz also has something against him. Now he is the favorite. His form since Roland Garros or his evolution on the Wimbledon grass put him ahead of Djokovic in the odds, and that always creates unease. Today, another final for the history books. What nerves.