Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has confirmed that the pain he experienced during the final of the Rio Open is linked to the same muscle he hurt during the off-season.
The world No.2 missed out on claiming his second title of the year after being ousted 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, by Cameron Norrie in a roller-coaster encounter. Alcaraz was on the verge of a comprehensive victory after leading 6-2, 3-0(30-0), before his British rival battled back to clinch his first-ever ATP 500 title. The dramatic encounter featured continuous changes in momentum with 11 breaks of serves occurring.
As the match progressed it became noticeable that Alcaraz was starting to experience trouble with his right leg and was moving more cautiously around the court. Earlier in the tournament, he had treatment on his other leg during his semi-final clash with Nicolas Jarry. The top seed briefly took a medical time-out in the final to have bandaging put around the top of his leg before removing it a couple of games later.
“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 (Sunday), discomfort arises and you notice things,” Alcaraz said during his press conference.
“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 that setback.”
Alcaraz missed the start of the 2022 season due to a hamstring issue in his right leg which he sustained during the off-season. Before that issue, he was forced to miss last November’s ATP Finals due to an abdominal injury.
In his latest match, the Spaniard tried to compensate for his injury by hitting an array of blistering winners, especially from the forehand side. Although playing such high-risk tennis also resulted in a series of errors.
“When you’re injured that affects your game because when you’re not well you have to do something different and risk more than necessary,” he explained.
“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.”
As for Rio champion Norrie, the world No.12 told reporters that he couldn’t tell that his opponent was struggling with his leg during their latest clash. The victory avenged his loss to Alcaraz just over a week ago in Buenos Aires. However, he still trails their head-to-head 2-4.
“I didn’t see that he had leg problems. I didn’t know what it was. For me, maybe it was even better for him because he could be aggressive. I didn’t know what was going on,” he said.
Alcaraz will evaluate his current fitness with a doctor before deciding whether to travel to Mexico this week and play at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Presentado por HSBC. Next month he has a high amount of points to defend at both Indian Wells and Miami.
