Carlos Alcaraz shut down some wild claims that Emma Raducanu’s appearance in the Wimbledon final gave him extra motivation to do well against Novak Djokovic as the Spaniard noted that it was a huge occasion and that seeing numerous celebrities in the stand wasn’t anything unexpected.
On Sunday, Alcaraz delivered a brutal performance to dismantle record 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic 6-2 6-2 7-6 (4) and win his second consecutive Wimbledon title, as well as get to four Grand Slam titles. Right from the start of the final, the 21-year-old looked like a man on a mission and he wasn’t giving any space to seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic until the third set – but even then the Spaniard found a way to close out the match in three sets.
During the final, Raducanu was shown a few times on broadcast – which led to some speculating if the 21-year-old Briton specifically came to watch Alcaraz. Also, some went as far as to credit Raducanu’s presence for Alcaraz’s performance.
For context, some fans noticed around a year ago that Alcaraz and Raducanu were following each other on Instagram. That started certain speculations and some wondering if Alcaraz had a crush on the 2021 US Open champion.
After the Wimbledon final, Alcaraz was asked about the comments some were making about Raducanu’s appearance on the Centre Court.
“I don’t know. I guess a lot of people came to see the final. Novak and I we always play a spectacular match, it’s a beautiful match to see. And she is from here, so I imagine that she wanted to come and see it. If there was a Grand Slam in Murcia I would watch the finals 100 percent. I don’t know if she came to the finals or if she came to see me. Who knows? You have to question her, but I hope she enjoyed the final,” Alcaraz said.
Raducanu showed respect to Alcaraz during Wimbledon
While Raducanu didn’t win Wimbledon like Alcaraz, she still had a very good campaign since she started with three consecutive straight-set wins before suffering a bit disappointing loss to qualifier Lulu Sun in the round-of-16. But before exiting Wimbledon, the 21-year-old Briton had some very strong performances – most notably she crushed Elise Mertens 6-1 6-2 and Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3.
Later, Raducanu revealed that she was watching Alcaraz’s matches for inspiration.
The last couple matches I’ve been following Carlos. And it’s just good to watch before my own match. And sometimes in certain moments you in a way try to emulate certain shots or whatever,” Raducanu shared.
But even way before this revelation, Raducanu spoke very highly of Alcaraz.
“I think it’s incredible what he’s doing right now. Being so young and being so consistent is really impressive. I think the way that he moves is really gracious and elegant. If you watch him, it just looks like he’s flying through the air,” Raducanu said of Alcaraz in 2022 May, shortly after the Spaniard won his first Masters titles in Miami and Madrid.
Alcaraz defended Raducanu at Wimbledon
At the start of Wimbledon, Raducanu was getting heavily praised for her level and performance. But then, Raducanu withdrew from her scheduled mixed doubles first-round match with Andy Murray just hours before the start. And since Murray didn’t play in singles and he had already exited the men’s doubles event, Raducanu pulling out of their mixed doubles match ended his farewell at The Championships.
That day, Raducanu said she woke up with a bad wrist soreness and she was concerned that playing mixed doubles could possibly lead to a bigger issue.
But that didn’t help Raducanu avoid criticism and scrutiny as some felt that she wasn’t fair at all toward Murray and that she should not have made the commitment of playing if there was a chance of something like that happening.
For some reason, Alcaraz was asked about the Raducanu mixed doubles controversy and he said: “It’s a difficult situation. She said she was going to play mixed doubles with Andy in the last Wimbledon of his career… I’m sure she didn’t want to pull out of the mixed doubles. She had her reasons to do it. I guess physical problems. I don’t know, she’s facing the 4th round of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon, I think it’s special for her playing in England. I’m sure a lot of players in her position would do the same thing as her. Obviously, knowing it’s his last Wimbledon is difficult to deal with.
