“My father is a huge fan of tennis, he doesn’t only watch my matches,” the 20-year-old Spaniard said when asked of the incident that occurred before the 36-year-old’s fourth-round match when they practised on adjacent courts.
“He gets into the club at 11 am, gets out at 10 pm, watching matches, practices of everyone. Be able to watch Djokovic in real life, probably it is true he filmed the sessions.”
Alcaraz responded with a verbal shrug when asked if the filming had given him an advantage.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “(There are) a lot of videos from Djokovic on every platform.”
The seven-time Wimbledon champion spoke of the lack of privacy at practice when the question was raised by Serbian media.
“We don’t have privacy in training,” Djokovic told Serbian reporters. “Sometimes I would like to have more privacy, it gives me opportunities to try some things. The fact is that you are not completely relaxed in training. Every shot is measured, evaluated and analyzed, so it can influence the next meeting with Alcaraz or whomever.”
Djokovic, two matches short of a 24th major title, raised a valid point, that of the invasion of an athlete’s privacy. Knowing that one is being watched cannot be a comfortable feeling, even if you are a global superstar; being filmed by the father of your rival at a practice session is perhaps a tad intrusive.
While that would discombobulate both men, one because lines were crossed and the other for being on the side that smudged the spirit of sport, but it is unlikely to give Alcaraz the edge whenever they meet next.
As things stand, Djokovic, seeded two, plays the eighth-seeded Jannik Sinner in the first semifinal on Friday. The top-seeded Alcaraz goes up against the third seed Daniil Medvedev.
They have semifinal matches to win before challenging for the title. You would think!
Alcaraz, with more range in his shots than flavours in a candy shop, was asked as many questions on ‘the filming’ in his media conference, as he was about Medvedev with whom he shares a 1-1 win-loss record.
The Spaniard lost only five games in their last meeting three months ago on hardcourts, Medvedev won their 2021 meeting in the second round of Wimbledon in straight sets.
“I lost the first match we played here on grass, I have to learn (from) it,” Alcaraz said. “He’s a complete player. I think Rublev said a few times, he’s an octopus. He catches every ball. He’s an amazing athlete. But I’m going to enjoy the semifinal. I think I’m playing great, (with) a lot of confidence. It’s going to be a really good match.”
Medvedev, clinically cerebral, discounted the loss in Indian Wells.
“The ball bounces lower at Wimbledon. The serve is more important. Indian Wells I felt like I couldn’t get free points with the serve,” the 27-year-old said.
“It’s interesting to play someone like Carlos. What he continues to do is just nbelievable. He doesn’t stop, I don’t think he will.
“But I have played a lot of great play ers in my career,” the Russian said.
“Imanaged to win many times.”
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