Despite his youth, injuries are chasing Carlos Alcaraz. The Spanish tennis player, 19 years old and current number two in the world, left full of doubts after his final at the Rio Open, where he lost to the British Cameron Norrie.
After the disappointment caused by the defeat, the Murcian referred to the physical discomfort he suffered on the track. “The schedule is very demanding. I have been playing at the highest level for 15 days, without stopping for any day.
In the end, playing games like today, discomfort arises and you notice things. To prevent, you ask for the physio and they bandage your leg, but I felt pain in the same muscle where I had the injury last month. It’s hard. I have tried to play at my best level despite this setback, ”said Alcaraz after his defeat on Brazilian clay.
“It has been a very tough game. I had my options and I have not been able to take advantage of them. This is what happens when you can’t take advantage of them against a great player like Norrie, who goes back to you in no time.
Physically I have not been able to finish as I would have liked, but this is what it takes to compete in such a demanding calendar. Now I only think about recovering. The final in Buenos Aires was also very even, but there I knew how to take better advantage of my opportunities.
The small moments made the difference,” he added in statements taken up by‘ Punto de Break ’. Alcaraz explained that “when you are injured, you are not well, you have to do something different and risk more than necessary.
I tried to be more aggressive and finish the points faster, but against an opponent like Norrie, who is very tough, it’s difficult to win. Taking so many risks, you end up making a lot of mistakes and that has influenced me a lot”.
Flink opens up on Carlos Alcaraz
Renowned sports journalist Steve Flink touched upon the incident and voiced his objection to Carlos Alcaraz’s jam-packed scheduling. “We could tell (he) has got an issue there, a serious issue – trying to play through it,” Flink said on the ‘Court-Side with Beilinson Tennis’ podcast.
“Let’s just hope that Carlos is wise about his schedule for the next month. He’s had a lot of woes, you might say; A lot of issues with his body and he’s clearly a very fit, young man, but he’s gotta pace himself.
And we want to see him around this game into his 30s like the three icons of this generation. That will only happen if he gets wise counsel and if he’s willing at certain times to say ‘No. I am putting my racquet down for a few weeks, I’m going to save myself.’”
