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Carlos Alcaraz - Roland Garros 2024
ATP Tennis Players, Carlos Alcaraz, Roland Garros, Tennis News

Carlos Alcaraz ‘completely forgot’ about arm injury in Roland Garros victory


Carlos Alcaraz has given himself lots of praise after advancing to the last-16 at Roland Garros, revealing that the right arm injury is no longer on his mind. 

Alcaraz beat 27th seed Sebastian Korda, 6-4 7-6(5) 6-3, yesterday in the night session match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

After a less convincing victory in the second round, Alcaraz appeared much more pleased with himself last night, “It was a really good match. I think I played really, really, well, much better than the previous match. This was something that I really want: to get in the rally, to play good points, feeling [like] myself on the court, and I think I did that really well.”

There had been concerns for the Spaniard coming into Roland Garros this year, having withdrawn from the Italian Open due to an ongoing injury in his right arm.

However, after now playing three matches in Paris, Alcaraz has reassured fans that he is no longer thinking about the arm that he still wears a sleeve on, “I have not had any ups and downs of concentration and there was a moment from which I completely forgot about the discomfort in my arm and started hitting with my forehand completely normally.

“I put in a lot of intensity to my tennis today and during the tiebreak, I hit two drives that made me realize how much I missed this feeling. Also, my forearm continues to improve.”

The men’s singles tournament at Roland Garros had been billed as one of the most open in years, with there being varying doubts over all top three seeds (Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz).

And Alcaraz himself has had his say on who he believes the favourite for the title is, as we approach the second week of the tournament, “I still think that there is a large list of players who can become champions here. It is true that Sinner, Djokovic and I are acquiring rhythm and gaining confidence as the rounds go by, I think it is as if we are becoming more dangerous for the rest.”

He continued, “However, anything can happen, there is great equality and the level of the matches that are coming up now, starting with the round of 16, is going to be very high and demanding for everyone.”

Alcaraz will look to reach his third successive Roland Garros quarter-final tomorrow, when he plays Felix Auger-Aliassime in a first-time meeting on clay.

Inside the baseline…

After being really tested against qualifier Jesper De Jong in the second round, Sebastian Korda could have been an even bigger obstacle for Carlos Alcaraz to overcome. However, it appears that the world No.3 knew that he needed to raise his level and stepped up to the occasion in the night session at Roland Garros yesterday. It is also great to hear Alcaraz speaking about how he is not thinking about his arm as much, with there being major concerns about whether injury would get in the way of the two-time Grand Slam champion ahead of the tournament.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.