Carlos Alcaraz suffered his first defeat at the Madrid Open since 2021, and it might have been related to his forearm injury.
Andrey Rublev played an incredible match to down Alcaraz, there is no denying that. However, both probably know that the Spaniard wasn't in the physical state that he would have wanted to be in.
Again, that doesn't take a single bit away from the Russian's win, as his 20-year-old opponent simply made the decision to play, and he lost fair and square.
But it also wasn't surprising that right after the match, Alcaraz's forearm that has been troubling him since the Monte-Carlo Masters, became the main talking point.
Throughout the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital, the world no. 3 has appeared with a protective sleeve on his right arm, and after his loss to Rublev, he admitted that he was thinking about the forearm all the time when hitting his forehand.
"Well, I have to keep going. Right now here in Madrid, while every time that I'm hitting the forehand, I'm thinking about the forearm, if I'm getting a feeling or not."
Obviously, thinking about a potential injury has been very limiting for the talented Spaniard, and that's why he's aware that to start playing his best tennis again, he'll not to work on overcoming the injury.
Now, his main goal is to prepare for the Italian Open in Rome, which will be his next destination, as the tournament in the Italian capital runs from May 8th to 19th, 2024, giving Alcaraz at least one week of time to prepare.
"I have to work hard these days if I want to go to Rome with good feelings, without pain, without thinking about my forearm, but it's gonna be a slow process, I guess. I have to be patient in that way. But right now I leave Madrid with good feelings in the forearm, but I have to do good work."