Alcaraz: 'A little scared about hitting every forehand 100%'

Carlos Alcaraz gave a positive report on his forearm injury ahead of Roland Garros, but cautioned that he is still not out of the woods yet. Set for his first action since a quarter-final exit in Madrid on 1 May, the Spaniard will open his Paris campaign against a qualifier or lucky loser.

"I'm feeling better," he said in a Friday press conference. "Every practice that I have done here, at home, it was pretty good. I'm feeling better and better. At least I can practise, hit balls without pain. That's a really good point for me. I'm excited to play my first match here in Roland Garros."

Alcaraz also received good news about the potential long-term implications of the injury, with doctors telling him that it "is not going to be serious" with respect to his recovery. At this point, the biggest challenge may be a mental one.

"I'm not feeling any pain in the practices when I step on the court. But I'm still thinking about it when I'm hitting forehands," he admitted. "Probably I'm going to say I'm a little bit scared about hitting every forehand 100 per cent. So I have to change [before] my first match, but everything that I'm focusing [on is] that I'm not feeling any pain."

👋🏻🇫🇷🎾🔥 https://t.co/TOpua2HtyN

— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) May 22, 2024

While the five-set competition at Roland Garros could stress the forearm, Alcaraz might also benefit from the added time on the match court. The third seed played just one event on the ATP Tour's European clay swing, competing in four Madrid matches before his quarter-final defeat to Andrey Rublev.

"Honestly I come here to this tournament with not too many matches, not as much matches as I wanted, but I'm focusing on the practice," he said. "I'm practising well. I'm getting rhythm. I'm getting confidence on the practice that I think is really important, and I think I don't need too [many] matches to get my 100 per cent, to get at my high level."

After a slow start to the 2024 ATP Tour season by his lofty standards, Alcaraz hit top form in Indian Wells to successfully defend his title at the ATP Masters 1000. He enters Paris with an 18-5 record on the year.

While he may be lacking in confidence and match play, the 21-year-old was not short of conviction when deciding if he would play at Roland Garros. Despite his recent spell on the sidelines, Alcaraz said he knew "a few weeks ago" that he would compete at the clay-court major.

"First of all, because it's Roland Garros and it's a really special tournament," he said of his decision. "Grand Slams, everybody wants to do good results here. This tournament is one of the main reasons that I'm practising every day. I want to be better player to be able to win these kind of tournaments."

Champion at the US Open in 2022 and at Wimbledon last year, Alcaraz will bid for his first Roland Garros crown this fortnight.