Carlos Alcaraz has admitted he is “a little bit scared” about how his powerful forehand will hold up at the French Open following a troubling arm injury. The world No. 3 was forced to withdraw from the Rome Open to nurse a problem with his right forearm.
“I’m not feeling any pain in the practices when I step on the court. But I’m still thinking about it when I’m hitting forehands,” said the 21-year-old Wimbledon champion. “I’m a little bit scared about hitting every forehand 100 percent.”
Alcaraz, also a former US Open champion, has played just one clay-court tournament in Europe this year, reaching the quarterfinals in Madrid. Earlier in the year, he was a semifinalist on the Buenos Aires clay before his arm problems led to a retirement after just two games in Rio.
The exact nature of his injury remains unclear even to Alcaraz. “I think you’re not going to believe me, but I don’t know exactly what I have on the forearm,” he said. “When I do the tests, when I’m talking with the doctors, my team, they explain to me, I listened but I forgot it.”
Alcaraz cannot forget his painful exit from the 2023 French Open, where he lost a four-set semifinal to Novak Djokovic, revealing that the fear of facing the world No. 1 had caused his body to cramp up.
Despite the poor form of defending champion Djokovic and injury-hit 14-time champion Rafael Nadal this season, Alcaraz insists they remain serious contenders. “Probably we don’t see them playing their best tennis, but it’s a Grand Slam, it’s Roland Garros, and I think they have chances to win the tournament,” he said.
Carlos Alcaraz in 2024
WLWLLWLWWW Currently ranked no.3, Alcaraz played his last match on the 1st of May when he lost to world no.6 Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the quarter in Madrid (draw).
This year the Spaniard achieved a compiled 18-5 match record. This year, Carlos conquered 1 tournament in Indian Wells.
Carlos Alcaraz will fight against the world no.107 Jeff Wolf in the 1st round. They have never competed against each other so far on the main tour.
Carlos clinched 1 title in 2024 in Indian Wells.
Alcaraz won 14 titles in his career: 4 on hard courts, 7 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 2 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Carlos Alcaraz |
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