Carlos Alcaraz has revealed the advice Casper Ruud gave him during his Laver Cup clash against Taylor Fritz. Ruud told the Spaniard to be more patient in the rally against the American and not overplay his shots. The Norwegian noted that Alcaraz was playing better than Fritz.
In the end, Alcaraz registered a 6-3, 4-6, 13-11 win against Fritz to get the much-needed win for Team Europe.
Alcaraz said in the post-match press conference, “He was telling me that, you know, from the outside, I have to be more calm because, you know, they were watching the bodies really, really good, and sometimes, you know, on court it can be really stressful that I have to overplay sometimes and play big, all the shots, all the time, that I don’t need to.
Alcaraz revealed the Norwegian told him to play smart and try to get into the rhythm.
“From the outside, you know, him approaching the bench and telling me that, you know, they were seeing the match a totally different way than I was seeing, telling me, like, how to be more passive, because I was better than him, you know… I mean, better shots than him, so I had to play smart, not overplay, and try to get into the rhythm.
“Coming from a match tiebreak, and having that advice from a player like him, it was really beautiful and really helpful, you know, for the match tiebreak.”
On the other hand, Alcaraz recently made a comeback to the tour at the US Open after almost five months on the sidelines due to a wrist injury. The Spniard revealed he took a break after the New York Major.
He said, “Well, it was really important for me. We knew we were gonna have to work really, really hard after the US Open. It was really, really important for me that I took off almost a week without a racket, took care of the body well after tough matches physically in the US Open.
