Carlos Alcaraz skips Rome and focuses on French Open: ‘I am really excited to fight for a Grand Slam’

ATP Tour
Carlos Alcaraz poses with the trophy

Carlos Alcaraz is “feeling great physically”, but the hottest property in tennis right now won’t make his Italian Open debut this week as he will take a breather ahead of the French Open.

The Spaniard is on a roll as he followed up his Barcelona Open success with his second ATP Masters 1000 trophy, the Madrid Open, on Sunday. The teenager also won the Miami Open in March and the Rio Open in February while he took his record for 2022 to 28-3 with his only defeats coming at the Australian Open, Indian Wells Open and Monte Carlo Masters.

What made his run in Madrid even more impressive was the fact that he took out the top three seeds as he beat third seed Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final, top seed and world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and third seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev in the final.

“I am 19 years old, which I think is the key to be able to play long and tough matches in a row. I am feeling great physically,” he said.

However, he will not play at final clay-court Masters event of the year in Rome as he wants to fully recover from the ankle injury before the French Open gets underway on May 22.

“Due to the fall that I had with Rafa, the ankle, I had a problem, and this morning it was a little more swollen,” he is quoted as saying by Eurosport.

“And also I had a blister in my feet which was a little bit infected, and it’s been a little bit tough start of the day. It was difficult for me to walk.

“I think that, you know, given the state of my feet and my ankle, I am really excited to fight for a Grand Slam. I think that it’s better to rest, to recover my ankle, recover my feet, to be in Paris at 100 per cent.”

Carlos Alcaraz

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