Alcaraz Skips Sunday Practice Before Fourth-Round Clash At US Open

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz decided to take a day off from practice ahead of his fourth-round clash against Matteo Arnaldi at the US Open.

The Spaniard was scheduled to be on the site of the US Open practice courts on Sunday, almost 24 hours since he was stretched to four sets by former British No. 1 Dan Evans in the third round. Instead, Alcaraz elected not to train in order to give his body adequate rest time after navigating the first week as reported by Marca.

It looks like Alcaraz might have been on a leisure excursion on Sunday after sharing a photo on his Instagram stories of the seafront during sunrise. It's not an uncommon practice for the Spaniard to skip training during his day off, having done so to great effect before the Wimbledon final.

Taking a break in the aftermath of such a testing battle under the heat against Dan Evans might lead to people speculating whether Alcaraz might have felt some discomfort after receiving some pills from his team during that match. It is worth noting that the temperature in New York crossed the 30 degrees mark at the weekend, and Alcaraz felt the need to rejuvenate.

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The defending champion will face unseeded Arnaldi, who upset the British No. 1 Cameron Norrie in the third round. This is the farthest that the 22-year-old Italian had been in a Grand Slam setting. And curiously enough he'll be looking to reach his first quarterfinal on hard courts at the expense of the top-seeded Alcaraz.

Last week, Alcaraz forfeited his No. 1 ranking after Novak Djokovic surpassed him in the live rankings following his first-round win over Alexandre Muller, and regardless of whether he'll defend his crown, the No. 1 ranking will not change hands from here. Djokovic will officially take over at the end of the fortnight.

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