As soon as fans heard of a certain Spaniard’s absence from the beginning of the clay season, the disappointment began. From Rafael Nadal, who announced that he would not be able to participate in the Monte Carlos Masters because of his back injury, the attention shifted towards Carlos Alcaraz. But even he might be in trouble.
Looking at the dominance that the rising star presented at the Indian Wells Masters, the fans are now expecting a similar performance at the clay court. Bringing another scare for the ones who looked forward to the Spaniard’s entry, recent reports suggest that Carlos Alcaraz may have discomfort in his right forearm.
🤕🇪🇸
Carlos Alcaraz has discomfort in his right forearm during practice today in Monte Carlo. Hopefully nothing major… pic.twitter.com/7JuGX3dle4
— Olly 🎾🇬🇧 (@Olly_Tennis_) April 7, 2024
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As the clay court tournaments are known to demand the best from players, it is sure to be a hurdle for the rising star, who was seen practicing with his right arm taped for support. However, there’s still no confirmation from him or his team about any particular injury, and it still remains to be seen how he performs ahead.
Although the young champ showed no signs of an injury or discomfort during his previous appearance at the Indian Wells Masters or even in Miami, this one still has no visible root. Hunting down the previous injury that he incurred, it happened back in February when the tennis star started his run for the title in Rio.
Alcaraz with his right arm taped in practice… https://t.co/cub0N2xID8
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) April 7, 2024
In his opening match against Thiago Monteiro, Alcaraz had to call it off because of an injury in his ankle. While this happened just two points after the match began, the Spaniard retired from the tournament giving his Brazilian opponent a lead.
However, having no confirmation on the update yet, it still remains to be seen if the tennis star will be able to show the same level of resilience as he did in the previous one.
Carlos Alcaraz’s amazing numbers in 2023’s clay-court season
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While this season’s performance is still something that the fans will discover later on, Carlos Alcaraz’s numbers back in 2023 came out to be stunning. Specifically filtering the matches played in the European clay court season, the Spaniard gained a victory in 16 matches out of the 18 played in all.
It ended, fittingly, with a 19th unanswerable forehand.
After rifling & finessing 26 winners, Carlos Alcaraz defends his Barcelona Open title with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Clay-court campaign up and running.#BCNOpenBS #CarlosAlcaraz
pic.twitter.com/fPRzdonT8E— LoveGameTennis 🎾 (@LoveGame_Tennis) April 23, 2023
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While the beginning didn’t go well as he had to withdraw from the Monte Carlo Masters, his strategy appeared to have worked as he was dominant in Barcelona. Defeating strong players like Dan Evans and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his run, the tennis star maintained his lead by lifting the title without losing even a single set. While fans still carry the expectations because of multiple factors right now, it still remains to be seen if he will be able to present the same in the following weeks.