Carlos Alcaraz sparks fresh fitness concern as he cuts short his practice at ATP Finals
Carlos Alcaraz has sparked fresh concerns over his physical condition ahead of the ATP Finals in Turin after cutting short his latest practice session with Flavio Cobolli.
The tournament favourite arrived in Turin with taping on his right knee, after a hectic couple of weeks that have seen him lift indoor titles at the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna and then at last week’s Paris Masters.
While Alcaraz’s camp have played down any suggestion that the seven-time Grand Slam champion is struggling to be fit for the start of the ATP Finals, he has now been hit by another problem after complaining of stomach discomfort during his hitting session with Cobolli.
Alcaraz raised his hand during the session and walked to his chair as he confirmed he needed to leave the court.
If it is a sickness bug, Alcaraz has time to recover as he is not due to play his first ATP Finals group stage match against Frances Tiafoe until Monday afternoon in Turin.
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Of more pressing concern could be his engagements over the next 24 hours, which include publicity appearances for the tournament and a photo shoot.
He is also due to stage his pre-tournament press conference and organisers will not want any of those key moments in the build-up to the tournament to be completed without the biggest star in the event.
Alcaraz is clearly battling some problems ahead of the ATP Finals, but he has confirmed he is relishing the chance to win one of the few big titles that is missing from his collection.
“Well, obviously the ATP Finals is, you know, the best eight players in the world,” said Alcaraz after his win against Ben Shelton in the Paris Masters final.
“It is a really important tournament for everybody. That’s what we are working for and making a really good position to start the year the best that we can, and playing during the whole year the best that we can to qualify to that tournament.
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“So that means, you know, we just put extra motivation, extra energy to come into that tournament. As I said openly, this is a tournament that I really want to win one day.
“I don’t know if it’s gonna be this year, next year, if I ever gonna be able to win this tournament, but I’m gonna work hard.
“I’m going to believe that I can do that, and, you know, I’m going to go this year with a lot of confidence. I’m going to go for it, for sure.”
