Carlos Alcaraz insisted his father was simply “a huge fan of tennis” after he reportedly filmed Novak Djokovic in a coaching session at Wimbledon.
Spanish prime seed Alcaraz, who beat Denmark’s Holger Rune in his quarter-final on Wednesday, admitted “probably it is true” when requested in regards to the challenge in his post-match press convention.
“My father is a huge fan of tennis,” he mentioned after his spectacular 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4 victory on Centre Court.
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“He doesn’t only watch my matches. I think he gets into the club at 11am, gets out at 10pm, watching matches, watching practice from everyone.
“Being able to watch Djokovic in real life, yeah, probably it is true he’s filmed the sessions.”
The English press has colourfully referred the the scenario as “Spygate” and Alcaraz was compelled to reply a number of questions on it after his victory.
US Open champion Alcaraz, who is thru to his first Wimbledon semi-final, stays on monitor for a possible title showdown with defending champion Djokovic on Sunday.
But he denied any filming would give him a aggressive benefit. “I don’t think so,” he mentioned. “I mean, I have a lot of videos from Djokovic on every platform. I think it’s not an advantage for me.”
The challenge surfaced throughout Djokovic’s Serbian press convention when he known as for extra privateness.
“The circumstances are such that we don’t have privacy in training, although sometimes I would like to have more privacy,” Djokovic mentioned.
“Then it gives me more opportunities to try some things, to communicate more clearly with my team.
“The fact is that you are not completely relaxed in training. You know your rivals are there, you know everyone is looking over your shoulder at what’s going on, what you’re working on. Every shot is measured, evaluated and assessed.
“That, through some analysis, affects the eventual meeting with Alcaraz or anyone. Concentration is required. For me, training is like a match. I bring that intensity to training as well.”
Alcaraz admitted it had been powerful to face his good friend and fellow 20-year-old Rune.
“It’s not easy to play against someone that I’ve played so many times,” he mentioned. “When we were younger, we grew up together, same age. For me is not really easy to play against.”
The world primary mentioned he was wanting ahead to his last-four conflict in opposition to Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev.
“He’s playing great here on grass,” he mentioned. “He has had a great, great year as well… but I am going to enjoy the semi-final.
“I think I’m playing great, a lot of confidence right now. So it’s going to be a really good match I think.”
Source: www.news.com.au