Carlos Alcaraz will make a return to the tennis courts at the inaugural Netflix Slam in Las Vegas, and ahead of it, he provided a crucial injury update.
This exhibition match against Rafael Nadal in Las Vegas had to endure quite a few things. It was initially scheduled to be played last year, but Nadal's injury prevented it. This year both Spaniard suffered injuries but Alcaraz's comeback seemed more unlikely.
He rolled his ankle badly recently at the Rio Open, and after limping out of the stadium, everybody was sure that he was not going to be ready for the Indian Wells Open or the Las Vegas exhibition.
Well, not only is he ready for that, but also this match, as he's going to step onto the courts tonight. Ahead of that, he sat down with Marca and provided an injury update on the ankle, admitting that it was going very well.
He worked hard to prepare for the match as good as possible and ultimately the biggest test will be the match against Nadal.
"The ankle is going very well. The time has been short. I have worked every day since I had it done to arrive prepared for the Netflix match. The sensations have been improving and I feel good."
Neither of them will play this match at 100% obviously, because it is an exhibition, but it will be good for Alcaraz to test the ankle and how it feels in a regular match. Practice is always a good test, but you can't really compare that to a proper match.
Even an exhibition match that won't be played at 100% by either player should be good enough for him to see how he feels. That will determine how his Sunshine Double goes. It was terrible timing for the ankle injury, but such is life of a professional tennis player.
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