With victory over Frances Tiafoe on Friday at Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz improved his standout fifth-set record to 12-1.
When pushed the distance, the Spaniard is used to coming out on top, highlighted by his five-set victory in last year’s final against Novak Djokovic at The Championships. The 21-year-old’s only fifth-set defeat came to Italian Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open in 2022.
“In the fifth set, I think I increase my tennis, my level,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “I feel great physically and that helps a lot to play more calmly than the opponent. I feel much better than the opponent physically and mentally. I know that the other guy has to play at a really high level of tennis and intensity in the fifth set if he wants to beat me. That helps me a lot to deal much better with those difficult situations in the fifth set.
“I’m playing with the stats that I just lost one match in the fifth set. That’s an advantage for me. That’s why I am feeling really, really well physically and in those situations I play at my high level.”
