Carlos Alcaraz arrived in Indian Wells with some question marks about the state of his ankle, which he rolled in Rio de Janeiro.
Back in Rio, Alcaraz was playing against native player Thiago Monteiro when he rolled his ankle badly early in the match. He continued to play for a while, but after taking a medical timeout and seeing how badly swollen it had gotten, the Spaniard retired.
He then limped out of the stadium, and that image didn't instill too much optimism in fans regarding his participation in the Indian Wells Open. He would later come out with a diagnosis and declare himself ready to play in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
The return at the Netflix Slam looked fine as he won the match against Rafael Nadal, but we still don't know how the ankle is behaving. His play in Indian Wells has also been fine, and after his most recent win, he shed more light on the situation.
"Not really. I mean, I'm not going to say I forget it (smiling), but in the matches, I forget it at all. I move really well. I don't think about ankle in the matches, in the practice."
"But outside the court of course I have to take care about it. I get treatment every day in the ankle, doing specific work for the ankle. But yeah, once I step in the court, I forget it."
The Spaniard's comment is an interesting one because it implies that he's not 100% fit. Otherwise, he wouldn't really have to take care of the ankle outside of the courts. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to limit him in any way during matches.
Time will tell the best, as he puts more wear and tear on it with every match. Depending on how this event goes, he might even skip the Miami Open. Nobody knows, but we're going to find out.
0 Comments