Carlos Alcaraz admitted at the 2024 Madrid Open that he was quite nervous about his forearm injury, which came at a really bad time.
The 20-year-old has had a couple of rough weeks recently with his forearm injury that came out of nowhere and proved more of an issue than initially thought. He first withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters because of it.
He then withdrew from the Barcelona Open, which was rather painful. In his own words, Alcaraz cried after giving up on trying to defend his trophy. His participation in the Madrid Open was also questioned, but he ultimately stepped up to play.
He admitted that he was not feeling 100%, which is not good for his chances, and it's why he was quite nervous before his second match at the event. His first match was a comfortable win for Alcaraz, and he was able to follow that up with another solid win against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
"I think I played at a really good level. Coming into this match I was nervous a little bit because I didn’t know how my forearm was going to be. Thiago has big serves and hits the ball really strong. But I’m really happy with my performance. It has been a long time since I felt this kind of nerves. I’m really happy to do it at the end (get the win) and get a chance in the next round."
Those wins are certainly important for Alcaraz because they grow his confidence for the upcoming matches. It won't be easy because he's facing Jan-Lennard Struff, so he'll need to be confident both in his tennis and in his body.
The goal is to remain healthy, but he wants to win the ATP Masters 1000 event, which would be his third consecutive triumph in the Spanish capital.