As everyone knows by now, Carlos Alcaraz suffered a tear in his abs during the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy. The 19-year-old Spaniard had to give up the ATP Finals in Turin and will not even take part in the Davis Cup finals in Malaga.
A real shame for him and for all tennis fans. Despite this setback, the young Iberian still has an excellent chance of ending the season at the top of the ATP rankings. This year, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protégé took part in 17 tournaments playing 70 games, winning 57 and losing 13.
In 2022 ‘Carlitos’ won the US Open, two Masters 1000 (Miami and Madrid) and two ATP 500 (Rio and Barcelona). Triumphing in New York, Alcaraz clinched his first Grand Slam and became the youngest number 1 in men’s tennis history.
His performance dropped in the latter part of the season, also due to a knee discomfort. At Eurosport, Alex Corretja analyzed the year of his young compatriot.
Corretja on Carlos Alcaraz
“The effort of the US Open came with a bill to pay,” the former world No 2 told Eurosport.
“You achieve the goal of a lifetime, the dream of becoming world No 1 and to win a Slam. “The following weeks are automatically the toughest to deal with. Carlos Alcaraz played the Davis Cup just afterwards, then went to a tournament very far away [in Astana, Kazakhstan], with the long flight and the time competing he had to do.
Of course, in the end, it is a pity because we hoped to see him at the [Paris] Masters, to fight for the world No 1 against Rafa [Nadal], not especially to measure who is the best out of the two, but more for the pride to have two Spaniards fighting for the world No 1 throne.
On top of that, not having him for the Davis Cup Finals, which had drawn lots of expectation because it is being played in Spain. But I’ll say it again: all this is normal with everything that happened, even if it is a bit of a ‘what a pity’ situation.
I am convinced that in 2023, it will be dealt with differently, and I still think that the way they [his coaching team] dealt with him was still excellent. We’ve got to remember that what Alcaraz has done is almost a miracle because fighting for what he actually fights for at the age of 19, no one had ever done it before”.
