Why ‘happy’ Alcaraz still smiled after Wimbledon loss

Carlos Alcaraz watched with a smile on his face as newly crowned Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner ascended the famous Centre Court steps to embrace his friends and family.

It is a custom the Spaniard is familiar with, having done it himself for the past two years.

Alcaraz sat in his chair and applauded, he thanked his opponent for a brilliant final, he was gracious in defeat.

“I just left the court with the head really, really high because I did everything that I could today,” world number two Alcaraz said.

“I just want to think, OK, I just played a final in a Grand Slam, and try to forget that I lost it. It’s just about [the fact] I was able to play in it.

“So, right now I’m not bad at all. I’m just happy.”

The two-time champion lost 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 to Sinner in an enthralling final – a rematch of the epic French Open showdown in which Alcaraz bounced back from two sets down and inflicted a brutal defeat on Sinner just five weeks ago.

Alcaraz, a five-time Grand Slam champion at the age of 22, knows that these are still the early days of a growing rivalry between himself and the world number one.

Almost 12 months ago Alcaraz lost the Olympic final in Paris to 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic.

It was a defeat he struggled to move on from.

“Last year in the Olympics I was really bad emotionally after the match. It was really, really hard for me to accept that moment,” he said.

But Alcaraz has learned from that defeat, the most significant in his career up to that point, and says it is a “different feeling” this time around.

“I think in the last year I’ve been through enough different situations that I learned from them,” he said.

“I just accept everything that is coming to me in the way it comes. Like, OK, I just lost a final in a Grand Slam, but I’m just really proud about being in a final.”

That positive attitude and charisma has shone through at this tournament, with Alcaraz revelling in his status as a fan-favourite at the All England Club.

Opting to practise on the intimate outside courts rather than the official practice courts at Aorangi before his matches, huge crowds have gathered to catch a glimpse of him and he has also dined at local restaurants and mixed with fans.

On court he often plays with a smile on his face, even when behind in matches.

Many would struggle to bounce back from a defeat like the one Sinner suffered at Roland Garros last month but the top seed did it in rapid and emphatic fashion to win a maiden Wimbledon title.

But Alcaraz said he was not surprised to see Sinner learn from that loss so quickly to win here.

“Champions learn from their – I’m not going to say failures – but they learn from the losses,” he said.

“I knew at the beginning that he was going to learn from that final, not going to make the same mistakes as he did in the French Open final.

“The way he played today, it was really high. I knew he was going to play like this.”

Alcaraz struggled with his first serve, finding it just 53% of the time, and he said it was also difficult to stay focused as Sinner pushed him hard with his supreme return game and dominance from the baseline.

“He was pushing me to the limit in every point,” Alcaraz said.

“Mentally, sometimes it’s really tough to maintain the good focus during the whole match when you see the opponent just playing such great tennis.

“At some points I didn’t know what I had to do because from the baseline I was feeling he was better than me and I couldn’t do anything about it.”