Carlos Alcaraz refused to confirm outright that he'll play at this year's Madrid Open, even though he most likely will.
There is very little chance that Alcaraz will miss the Madrid Open because he's the defending champion, and it's an ATP Masters 1000 event he loves to play at. Withdrawing from the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open was done with the intention of being ready for Madrid, so there is very little chance that he actually misses this event.
Even so, the Spaniard refused to outright confirm his participation at the event ahead of the tournament, admitting that there are a few days until his first match at the event, and he wants to use that time to fully heal.
He did say that he's having good practices and feeling good, suggesting that he'll likely play, but refusing to confirm that he will.
"There are still days until my first match, today I trained more intensely, things are going well, I have good feelings. I don't want to rush, I don't want to get into trouble with myself."
"I can't say I'm going to play my 100% because I don't know, I don't take anything for granted. Right now, with the feelings this morning and the mentality I have, I would be happy with playing 3-4 games."
Time will tell whether Alcaraz will play in the Spanish capital, but he's trending in the right direction, and signals from his camp have also been positive. His coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, admitted that he was seeing the light after two tough weeks in which he had to abandon his plans to play.
The hope is that he plays in Madrid and then builds upon that in the coming weeks leading up to the French Open, which is his goal. Right now, he only has a few matches on clay, but that won't be enough.
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