Carlos Alcaraz is only 21 years old, but he already had to endure very challenging moments during his tennis career.
Alcaraz is one of the best young players tennis has ever seen. He is a four-time Grand Slam champion at 21, and he will have a great chance to add his fifth major at this year's French Open, where he will be the defending champion.
Last year, Alcaraz won at Roland Garros, but at one moment, he doubted whether he would even be able to play in Paris. He injured his forearm at the start of the clay-court season, and it took him very long to come back.
The Spaniard missed the Monte-Carlo Masters, and he also withdrew from the Barcelona Open. Alcaraz then competed at the Madrid Open, where he reached the quarter-finals, but he again withdrew from the Italian Open in Rome.
It was a challenging period for him, especially since it was so close to the French Open. Ultimately, Alcaraz managed to recover in time for the clay-court Grand Slam and excelled on the Parisian clay.
He beat J.J. Wolf, Jesper De Jong, Sebastian Korda, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, and Alexander Zverev to lift his third Grand Slam title.
Shortly after that, he beat Novak Djokovic in yet another Wimbledon final to claim his fourth, and for now, his last major title. But in a recent interview with MoluscoTV, Alcaraz admitted that the period when he was injured before the French Open was probably the worst in his tennis career.
"My worst moment in tennis. I think that in 2024 when I got injured. I injured my forearm on the clay tour in April. I had to miss several tournaments that I was really looking forward to playing, especially in my country, Spain."
There were many factors that made the time so challenging for Alcaraz. He missed the tournament in Barcelona, which is one of his favorites, but he was also unsure of whether he would ever be able to come back at his best.
The young player was initially told that he would be fine in two weeks, but that didn't happen, which worried him even more. Ultimately, he was able to come back and win two consecutive majors, going from the worst moment in his career to probably the best in a few weeks.
"I had many doubts about whether I was going to feel good again, to be able to hit the ball normally because it bothered me. Weeks went by. The doctors told me, no, in two weeks you will be able to play perfectly."
"The two weeks would come, and again, it bothered me, hurt me, so that created a doubt in me of not knowing when I was going to return. Not knowing if I was going to be able to hit my forehand again or the shots normally. And there were super important tournaments in sight."
