Alcaraz: 'I don't know what I could have done better'

Carlos Alcaraz suffered just his second defeat of the season on Thursday when he fell to Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Despite his loss, the Spaniard believes there was little he could have done to change the outcome.

“I've talked with my team, with my coach, and honestly I don't know what I could have done better,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “Probably a few serves, a few points that probably I didn't play a good point. Honestly, I don't know. It was kind of a difficult feelings, I guess. I mean, I have to give credit to him as well, because when he was down, especially in the third set, he didn't give up.”

Alcaraz led 4-2 in the deciding set and had a break point on the Lehecka serve to extend his lead and move to the brink of victory. However, the Czech fended off the danger to hold before he won the next three games to triumph.

“It was about one point. I think that's what makes tennis really difficult. One point makes a difference,” Alcaraz said on the third set turning point. “At 4-2 break point, it was just a few centimetres down in the net, so it could turn the match completely. But then 4-3, he started playing great tennis. Probably I could have done a bit better from 4-3, but his game was incredible. He was returning pretty well, really aggressively, no mistakes, or almost no mistakes, so that's what I have to learn.

“Next time, I just have to keep going when I am up in the match, with serves. But in my mind, I don't know what I could have done better, and I give credit to him.”

Alcaraz recently added coach Samuel Lopez to his team full-time after Lopez ended his relationship with Pablo Carreno Busta. The Spanish coach has worked with Alcaraz in the past, helping guide the 21-year-old to The Queen’s Club title in 2023 when main coach Juan Carlos Ferrero was absent.

The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings is pleased to have Lopez on board.

“Between them, they have a lot of confidence,” Alcaraz said on Ferrero and Lopez. “Everything they are saying to me it was in the same way. So if they have to say something to me, before they talk between them, then they say just the one thing, so it's a really solid team.

“They are different person. When I'm with Samuel, off the court he gives me calm, and I enjoy my time off the court with him. As I say, I don't know what makes him different, but the group, the whole team, we are a really solid team.”

Alcaraz was making his debut at the ATP 500 in Doha, where he defeated Marin Cilic and Luca Nardi en route to the quarter-finals. The top seed enjoyed his time in the Middle East.

“I love the tournament. I think the tournament is amazing. Everything for the players, I think everything is really easy. The people who work here make this tournament really special,” Alcaraz said.

“I leave Doha with the head up, with confidence, and really, really happy with everything that I've done here and how I felt here with my team. I'm going to come back next year.”

Alcaraz is 11-2 on the season, having triumphed at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam. He will next head to the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, where he is the two-time defending champion.