He cut short a training session after twisting his right ankle, but Carlos Alcaraz is not worried that it will affect his prospects at the US Open, which begins on Monday (August 26, 2024). The third-seeded Alcaraz is slated to play his opening-round match on Tuesday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium against the 188th-ranked Australian Li Tu. (More Tennis News)
“I think it is OK. I just stopped my practice just for precaution,” said Alcaraz, who won the US Open title at Flushing Meadows in 2022 for the first of his four Major trophies. “I didn't feel comfortable enough to keep practising, just in case if everything is going to be worse,” the 21-year-old added.
Alcaraz feels the injury would not put his participation at the US Open in doubt. He is more upset about losing court time as he gears up in pursuit of a third successive Grand Slam title, after triumphs at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July.
“I don't want to stop any practice. I want to practice, I want to get better, I want to get ready for the tournament,” the Spanish tennis star said, adding: “I'm sure that tomorrow, or in two days, I'm going to be at 100%, for sure.”
The preparation has not been ideal for Alcaraz. He played just one match on a hard court in the leadup to the US Open, and that match too resulted in a loss to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open. Alcaraz destroyed his racket by repeatedly hitting it against the court during that match, later apologizing for it for on social media.
The lack of hardcourt match practice does not bother Alcaraz, though he did acknowledge he'd prefer to have had more before getting to New York.
He didn't play a lot of matches on clay before this year's French Open owing to a lingering forearm issue, and only played two on grass before Wimbledon — and left both of those events as the champion.
“I don't want to think that it's going to be the same (as) the previous two Grand Slams,” Alcaraz said with a smile, “but I'm not worried about not having too many matches on hard courts.”
The 21-year-old also reflected on his two-tiebreaker loss to Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final at the Paris Olympics, three weeks ago. A tearful Alcaraz had said that day he felt bad for letting his country down.
“It was a difficult moment to deal (with) for me,” Alcaraz said on Saturday. “But in front of me, I had a really good player that was fighting for the same thing as me. And he deserve it. So days after the Olympics, I realized that I won the silver medal. It was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of. I'll try to keep going, try to learn (from) this match. ... The next important matches of my career, I'm going to deal (with) in a different way, or a better way, than I did in the Olympics.”
(With AP inputs)
