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Quote of the Day: Carlos Alcaraz was rushing to "watch a bit of Spain" at Euro 2024

The defending champion also revealed his “lucky” pact with Spain forward Alvaro Morata amid their parallel success this fortnight.

ByStephanie Livaudais

Published Jul 10, 2024

After dropping the first set in his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Tommy Paul on Tuesday, Carlos Alcaraz kicked things into high gear.

If the Spaniard looked like he was in a bit of a hurry as he eventually rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory on Centre Court… that’s because he was. The 21-year-old has been a soccer fanatic all fortnight long during the UEFA European Championships, which has seen his beloved Spanish national team advance to the final on July 14.

Alcaraz has been working around his Wimbledon scheduling to try to watch as much of the action from Germany—and when Spain’s semifinal against France was scheduled on the same day as his own quarterfinal meeting with Paul, he knew he’d have to juggle.

“Hopefully on Tuesday we are not going to play at the same time. But let's see,” Alcaraz said over the weekend. “Hopefully I will be able to see a little bit from the match.”

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A post shared by Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (@carlitosalcarazz)

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His American opponent almost derailed the watch party after taking the first set, before Alcaraz rallied for the win. The 21-year-old reportedly arrived “a bit late” to his own post-match press conference because (you guessed it) he was watching the match.

Q. You came in a bit late so you could watch kickoff. When you're playing tennis, how much is Spain's game on your mind? Are you trying to finish in time so you can watch it?

CARLOS ALCARAZ: Honestly, at the beginning of the match I wasn't thinking about it.

Once I felt like I'm dominating the game, 5-1 in the fourth set, yeah, I thought about it (smiling). I thought a little bit I was on time. I wasn't…

After I finished, I did everything in a rush just to be in time to watch a bit of Spain.

After Alcaraz’s win, Spain ultimately won a nailbiter of their own defeating France 2-1 with goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo. The team awaits the winner between England and Netherlands, who face off on Wednesday.

"He told me, Okay, I'm going to talk to you because every time that we spoke, we won!" Alcaraz said of Spain forward Alvaro Morata.

And afterward, their biggest supporter said he was just as hype as any soccer fan—except he has a direct line to one of the team’s biggest stars: “I talk with Alvaro Morata. I wish them the best of luck.”

Alcaraz also revealed that he and Spain forward Morata have also made that into a bit of a “lucky” tradition amid their parallel successes at Wimbledon and Euro 2024.

“When I finished, he send me some photos that he was watching (my) match before their match,” the No. 3 seed said.

“It was kind of lucky because he told me, Okay, I'm going to talk to you because every time that we spoke, we won! It’s kind of lucky.”

Defending champion Alcaraz will face No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev on Thursday for a place in the Wimbledon final. The championship match will be held on Sunday, July 14—the same day as Spain’s own Euro 2024 final.

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