Recovering Alcaraz hitting forehand 'much harder'

In the early hours of Friday morning, Carlos Alcaraz shared a high-intensity practice session with Cameron Norrie on Philippe Chatrier, Roland Garros’ centre court. With two days to go until the season’s second Grand Slam kicks off, the No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings continued to increase his workload after missing three of the four ATP Tour events (Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Rome) he had planned to play on the European clay swing.

The two-time Grand Slam champion, who turned 21 on 5 May, has been dealing with pain in his right forearm ever since the change of surface after Miami from hard court to clay. The injury left Alcaraz with no choice but to withdraw a few days before his opening match in Monte-Carlo, despite the fact that he had been in Monaco practising for a few days. He was later forced to miss Barcelona, where he was the two-time defending champion, before playing in Madrid (a title he also won in 2022 and 2023), where he was hampered by the pain and would bow out to Rublev in the quarters.

It was in the Spanish capital, his only tournament on the swing, that Alcaraz admitted that he was thinking too much about hurting himself when hitting the ball with his forehand — above all, when he put everything into that shot, which is so key to his game.

“Now I’m better,” the Murcia native declared on Friday at Roland Garros. “I’m hitting my forehand much harder and with more intensity than in Madrid, for example. I still think about it occasionally when I’m hitting it. It’s something I have to work on in the next few days in practice, as things are going very well with my forearm, both on and off the court. I have to trust the work I’ve done, my team and my fitness, coming in here to try and get rid of that thought. But right now I’m still having it.”

After announcing he would not be playing at the Foro Italico in Rome, the Spaniard started the gradual process of preparing for the French Open. He hadn’t touched a racquet for several days, then he went to train with Juan Carlos Ferrero, ramping up his intensity with every session, being careful with his forehand. Since arriving in Paris on Wednesday, he has practised with some big names on the other side of the net.

The upshot of all this is that when Alcaraz takes to court on Sunday to play J.J. Wolf at Roland Garros, he will do so with just four matches under his belt during the clay swing. Is this likely to be a problem for the Spaniard?

“Everyone is different, as a player and as a person,” explained Alcaraz. “Some people need loads of matches, lots of tournaments, and others don’t need so many. I’d say I’m someone who doesn’t need to practise every day to find my rhythm. Maybe I can miss some practice sessions, as many of you will have seen at Grand Slams. There are rest days when I don’t play, and that doesn’t set me back. I’m a player who doesn’t need so many matches to find my form.”

👋🏻🇫🇷🎾🔥 https://t.co/TOpua2HtyN

— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) May 22, 2024

This is where Alcaraz finds himself as he arrives at a Roland Garros that is one of the most open in in recent years, where there is no clear favourite, no one dominant force. The 2024 event is one of great opportunity, with many candidates for the throne. Everything is to play for.

“That’s the great thing about tennis right now; there is a wide range of players who can win the best tournaments, who can win Grand Slams,” explained the No. 3. “In the end, you watch matches and you don’t know what’s going to happen. I think that’s great. Rafa is always there. Zverev is always there, although he’s playing Nadal in the first round. Sinner too, even though he has an injury, I still think he’s capable of doing it. And of course Djokovic. I don’t have a clear favourite to win the tournament, there’s a wide range of players who are able to do it.”

Editor's Note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com.es.