This week on the ATP Tennis Podcast…
CARLOS ALCARAZ ON RETURNING TO WORLD NO. 1 BY WINNING QUEEN’S – “Right now I’m feeling better then at the beginning of the week. Of course, recovering the No. 1 spot gives you extra motivation going into Wimbledon. It gives you extra confidence, but it doesn’t change too much if I play Wimbledon as No. 2 or No. 1.”
ALEXANDER BULIK ON WINNING THE TITLE IN HALLE – “Well it means the world to me. I’ve been struggling for half a year and now have this for a reward. I don’t take it for granted. I thought it would be nice to win this tournament one day and I’m really, really happy.”
ROGER FEDERER ON TENNIS TODAY – “I’m very surprised by how often and frequently I check scores. Three times a day maybe, I’m really into it. I think there’s some great matches going on and I think the level of play is going up more and more, again and again. It’s nice to see the new generation challenging the likes of Novak and Rafa.”
SEBASTIAN KORDA ON RECOVERING FROM HIS WRIST INJURY – “I’m hoping that my wrist gets used to playing again and hopefully I don’t have so many aches and pains. I was a little worried coming into the grass season, because the ball slides a little more on the grass and you can catch it later, but everything is going well so far.”
ALFIE HEWETT ON HIS POSITIVE MINDSET – “Obviously I’ve got this condition and was told I have to be in a wheelchair. So obviously as a seven-year-old that was very difficult to process but it’s made me learn a lot about myself. Strength can come in many different ways and it’s all about perception in many ways. You can perceive a situation to be a lot worse than it is and I’ve learnt with the tennis to be more optimistic about what’s around the corner.”
COACH MIKE RUSSELL ON HOW GRASS-COURT TENNIS HAS CHANGED FROM WHEN HE WAS PLAYING – “Grass is exponentially slower. My first Wimbledon you couldn’t even have a rally from the baseline, it was literally who could get to the net faster. All serving and returning. So now there’s a lot more movement. You really have to have good leg strength and good mobility, flexibility, because you’re put in awkward positions because of some of the bounces. That’s really been the biggest change I’ve seen on the grass.”
RICHARD KRAJICEK ON PETE SAMPRAS – “We played 10 times and I beat him six times. I liked playing against him and because of my serve I wasn’t afraid of anybody. His coach said to my coach that he didn’t like playing me because he didn’t get the locker room win.”
PLUS…GRASS-COURT TENNIS FEATURE BY ATP MEDIA AND ANDREY RUBLEV FEATURE BY ATP UNCOVERED
– Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier
– Interviews by Seb Lauzier, Richard Connelly, Jill Craybas & Candy Reid
– Features by ATP Media and ATP Uncovered
Source Tennis – ATP World Tour
