Carlos Alcaraz admitted on Friday that he was “a little scared” about his sledgehammer forehand performance at the French Open after overcoming a worrying arm injury. The charismatic world number three was forced to sit out the recent Rome Open to nurse a right forearm problem. “I don’t feel any pain in training when I get on the court. But I still think about it when I’m hitting forehands,” said the 21-year-old Wimbledon champion.
“I’m a little scared of hitting 100 percent on every forehand.”
Alcaraz, also a former US Open champion, has played just one clay-court tournament in Europe this year, reaching the round of 16 in Madrid.
Earlier in the year he was a semi-finalist on clay in Buenos Aires before arm problems caused him to retire after two games of his debut in Rio.
The precise nature of his injury remains a mystery for the Spanish star.
“I don’t think you’ll believe me, but I don’t know exactly what I have on my forearm,” he said.
“When I do the exams, when I talk to the doctors, my team, they explain it to me, I listened, but I forgot.”
One thing Alcaraz cannot forget is his painful exit from the 2023 French Open, when he lost a four-set semi-final to Novak Djokovic, revealing that the fear of facing the world number one caused his body to cramp.
Despite the poor form of defending champion Djokovic and 14-time champion Rafael Nadal, who has been injured this season, Alcaraz insists he cannot be ruled out as a contender.
“We probably don’t see them playing their best tennis, but it’s a Grand Slam, it’s Roland Garros, and I think they have a chance to win the tournament,” he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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