Carlos Alcaraz explained why he thought that crying in front of the camera after his loss in the final of the 2024 Paris Olympics was “necessary.”
Alcaraz was probably the biggest favorite heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics. He won the so-called “Channel Slam,” which means winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles.
Having won at Roland Garros less than two months prior to the Olympic Games, it was clear why he was the favorite. And early on, he played like a favorite too.
Alcaraz beat Hady Habib, Tallon Griekspoor, Roman Safiullin, Tommy Paul, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, all without losing a single set. In the final, he played against the only player seeded higher than him, Novak Djokovic, but the Spaniard was still a huge favorite.
Djokovic was after knee surgery, and the young Spanish player was just incredible, not only during the Olympics but also in the weeks prior, winning back-to-back majors.
Still, he surprisingly lost the match. Djokovic won the only big title that he missed in his now complete collection, and he almost immediately started crying.
But he wasn’t the only man crying on the court in Paris that day. Djokovic cried because he was happy and had achieved something he waited for his whole life. Alcaraz, on the other hand, broke into tears only a few moments later, disappointed by the loss.
Now, he got a chance to look back on that experience during an interview with the MoluscoTV YouTube Channel. Alcaraz admitted that winning the gold medal was his goal for that season.
“It was a difficult moment. The truth is that it was a difficult moment because my objective from the beginning of the year was to win the gold medal.”
He felt confident he could win when setting the goal, but he also felt confident during the week in Paris. Alcaraz played incredible tennis, which is why he felt he could win.
“And that week I felt the need to do it. In the end that feeling can be wrong – to feel the need to do something – so in that moment when I didn’t do it, obviously after a defeat, 10-15 minutes after an objective you haven’t been able to complete, it’s difficult to put everything in perspective.”
After he lost, Alcaraz was incredibly disappointed. He felt like he let his whole country down, and he felt that it was important not to hide his emotions. He started crying, and it showed just how much he cared.
“And in that moment I felt that I had let my country down, that I had let the Spanish people down, for not winning the gold medal that everyone was expecting.”
“And that’s why I reacted like that, letting my feelings go, and obviously speaking to the cameras, expressing myself in that moment, and showing to my country and to the world how I felt, I think it was necessary.”
