The Murcian stopped training this Saturday in New York “simply as a precaution” after twisting his ankle
MADRID, 25 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz said on Saturday that he was not “at all” affected by arriving at the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season without having played much on hard court, and he also reassured us about his physical condition after having to stop training due to a sprained ankle.
The Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion suffered the mishap while training with Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo and decided to stop training, although he confirmed to the media that it had been more out of caution than because of any real injury that would put his participation in New York at risk.
“I just stopped my training as a precaution. I didn’t feel well or comfortable enough to continue training in case it could get worse, but after a few hours, I feel fine, so this Sunday I will try to get back to training at 100 percent without thinking about it,” Alcaraz said at a press conference.
The Murcia native made it clear that he was not “worried at all” about his participation in the last ‘major’ of the year. “I was angry because I didn’t want to stop training, also out of respect for Cerúndolo, because I want to train, improve and play. The ankle didn’t worry me, I’m sure that on Sunday or Monday I’ll be 100% safe,” he stressed.
The four-time Grand Slam winner arrives at Flushing Meadows without much preparation on hard courts, except for his defeat at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati (USA). “Well, it doesn’t matter to me. Obviously, I would have loved to have more matches under my belt on hard courts before this US Open, but it doesn’t affect me at all,” he remarked.
“If I look back a little, I know that, for example, ahead of Roland Garros, I didn’t play too many matches on clay and it was a pretty good result, and then at Wimbledon, the same. I don’t want to think it’s going to be the same, but I’m not worried about not having too many matches on hard court,” he added.
As for his defeat in the final of the Paris Olympic Games against Serbian Novak Djokovic, he does not forget that it was one of the “most important” finals of his “life”. “I know that the Olympic Games are every four years, so I don’t know if I will have another chance to win gold, but I will fight for it, for sure, in the next ones,” said the player from El Palmar.
Alcaraz had a “difficult time” a few weeks ago when he “lost the gold medal in a very close match” in which he had “opportunities” but in which he had as an opponent “a very good player who was fighting for the same thing.” “He deserved it. After the Games everything was fine, I realized that I won the silver medal and that was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of,” he stressed.
“Now I’m trying to move on, I’m trying to learn from this match so that in the next finals or the next important matches in my career, I can approach it in a different way or better than in the Olympics, but I realized that it was an important moment in my life,” said the world number three.
On the other hand, when asked about his tennis, he stressed that he “always” tries to push his rivals “to the limit” and tries to “be aggressive all the time.” “I just try to play different shots and I think the worst thing for my opponent is that he won’t know what’s going to happen next. He has to be aggressive and he has to defend well if he wants to be alive on the point,” he explained.
He was also asked about what happened to Italian Jannik Sinner and his acquittal after testing positive twice last March. “It’s a really difficult time for him, that’s for sure. It’s complicated and it’s going to be difficult for me to explain myself in English, but I’ll try,” warned the Spaniard.
“I believe in clean sport and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of things we don’t know within the team, but if they let Jannik continue playing it’s for a reason. They told him he was innocent, that’s all I know and that’s all I can talk about,” Alcaraz said.