At the Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz lost for the first time since 2021.
Carlos Alcaraz, who lost his first match at the Madrid Open in three years, provided an update on his right forearm injury. After losing to Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the quarterfinal, the two-time defending champion expressed his “hurt” feelings and wondered if he would be prepared for the Italian Open.
Alcaraz’s record of 14 straight wins at the Madrid Open was broken on Wednesday when he fell to Rublev. Even though the Spaniard barely touched a racket before his opening match and missed the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open due to a right forearm injury, it was still a positive tournament for him.
Despite his encouraging run to the quarterfinals, the world No. 3 acknowledged that he was hurting after losing the tournament. “Losing hurts, and it hurts to have options and not use them,” Alcaraz remarked.
The 20-year-old played Jan-Lennard Struff for almost three hours on Tuesday, and he acknowledged that the lengthy bout had an impact on him. After yesterday’s match, he continued, “It has been a difficult day for me; it had been a while without a match like this and I woke up with soreness all over my body.”
“The forearm was there, and all that has taken its toll on me a bit. I’m not going to take away from Rublev’s match, but it was a difficult match for me.” Prior to today, Alcaraz had never lost at the Madrid Open. He entered the competition as a wildcard in 2021, winning a round before Rafael Nadal easily defeated him 6-1 6-2.
Despite not knowing if he would be able to participate in his home tournament, Alcaraz had a positive week nonetheless. Instead of worrying about his forearm during matches, he is now hoping to get it back to normal. “Neither my team nor I thought I would get to where I am,” he went on.
“The first time I picked up the racket after a week was here, hitting it very soft. To get as far as I did, I would have already signed for it. Now, to continue working to see if I can recover my normal right hand and without thinking about the forearm. Let’s see how it goes in the coming weeks.”
Towards the end of the match, the two-time Grand Slam champion’s forearm began to give him trouble, so he had to switch back to using his slice. However, he still intends to travel to Rome for the forthcoming Italian Open, which gets underway in just one week. It’s difficult to play someone like Rublev when you can’t push him to the limit every point, Alcaraz said.
“But yes, I did slice the forehand a little bit more toward the end of the match. Let’s say that after the game, I had some difficult emotions, but the important thing is that I’m going to Rome. I’m going to work hard these days to play Rome well, or as close to 100% as possible, but these are the days I’ll make my decision. However, I believe I’ll be able to play Rome.”
