Carlos Alcaraz ended his 2024 Madrid Open with a loss to Andrey Rublev, and he confirmed that no decision on the Italian Open has been made.
When Alcaraz beat Jan-Lennard Struff in the Madrid Open final last year, many assumed he might skip the Italian Open. He didn't and showed up in Rome only to lose to a player ranked outside of the Top 100.
Fabian Marozsan would go on to establish himself as a pretty good player since then, as Alcaraz's career slowed down. This year has been an interesting observation because he hasn't played that spectacularly, which the most recent Madrid Open defeat shows.
He was outplayed easily and didn't really find a way to counter Andrey Rublev as he took over the match. The forearm injury obviously played a factor in the match. He admitted it after the loss, and it's part of why he still hasn't decided to play at the Italian Open next week.
"Well, yeah, today probably I felt more in the forearm than yesterday's match. I mean, playing three hours yesterday, I knew that I'm gonna feel something or I'm gonna think about it even more."
"But, you know, playing someone like Rublev that I couldn't push to the limit in every point is tough. But yeah, the end of the match, I sliced the forehand a bit more."
Ultimately, the goal for the Spanish player will be the Roland Garros. He won't do anything that jeopardizes that event, and if that means skipping the Italian Open in Rome, then he'll skip it.
"Well, it was difficult feelings, let's say, at the end of the match. But the point is that I'm gonna go to Rome. I'm going to work these days to be close to 100% or in a good way to play in Rome, but I'm gonna decide in the next coming days. But I think I'll be okay to play Rome."