Carlos Alcaraz already has 2023 in his sights. After a month off, the number 1 in the world is already “in the last stretch of recovery” and preparing to start the new course with the maximum guarantees, according to what he says on his social networks.
Alcaraz, 19, played his last match on the ATP circuit on November 4, when he was injured in the quarterfinal match of the Paris Bercy Masters 1000 against the Danish Holger Rune, in which he suffered a tear in the internal oblique muscles of the left abdominal lateral wall.
That injury prevented him from playing the Masters Cup in Turin and the Davis Cup Final Eight with Spain in Malaga, and his team announced that he would be out for six weeks. The tennis player, who has been training for a week at the JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy, in the Alicante town of Villena, will return to competition in a little over a week for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament to be held from 16 to December 18 in Abu Dhabi.
An exhibition tournament will also help him to start 2023. It will be the Kooyong Classics, from January 10 to 12, his only appointment before the start of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season. In February, Alcaraz will play two other tournaments, the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco, which will give way to the US track season in March, with the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami.
The clay court season will start in April, where the Murcian is expected to prepare his assault on Roland Garros by participating in the Conde de Godó Trophy and the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome.
Brad Gilbert speaks about Alcaraz
In remarks granted to Tennis Majors, Brad Gilbert wished to insist on the mentality of Carlos Alcaraz, whom he compares to that of the legendary compatriot of the young world number 1, Rafael Nadal.
“I think a lot about Rafa, his incredible determination, his focus, no matter what happens he keeps fighting. At the US Open, Carlos plays three matches in a row in five sets. He has a late break against Cilic in the fifth, he saves a match point against Sinner, and against Tiafoe he misses a match point in the fourth before winning.
In all these matches, with Carlos it’s a bit like with Rafa, you always feel like it’s not over until the referee says game, set and game. It’s an incredible quality,” said the former coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray.
