Carlos Alcaraz has set pulses racing with his comments during Tuesday’s win over Otto Virtanen at the Barceola Open. Alcaraz, who lost to Jannik Sinner in last week’s Monte Carlo final, returned to the court as the clay swing entered his home country of Spain.
Alcaraz will have eyes on the Madrid Open next week, but his preparations might have been stunted somewhat, as he complained about a wrist injury during the win over Virtanen. During a stoppage in play where Alcaraz was receiving treatment on his wrist, the Spaniard hinted that he might have to pull out of the Barcelona Open.
Speaking to the physio, the mics caught Alcaraz saying: “With little rest time between one tournament and another, small details and discomforts always come up. Tomorrow I’ll see with my physio how it is, and hopefully it’s nothing.”
Regardless, Alcaraz saw the 6-4 6-2 win out to extend his impressive record at the Barcelona Open. It’s the fourth time the 22-year-old has reached the last-16 in Barcelona, while the back-to-back French Open champion has also won 27 of his last 29 matches on clay.
Tomas Machac awaits Alcaraz in the next round, as the Spanish star said afterwards: “It feels great to be back and to get another win in front of my people in Barcelona, it means everything.
“This morning was my first practice here to adapt to the conditions. Different conditions to Monte Carlo but overall I am really happy with the way that I played and solved the problems that I had in the first set. I ended up playing great tennis, so hopefully in the next round I will feel a little bit better.”
The good news for Alcaraz is there will be no chance of a repeat of the Monte Carlo Masters final with old foe Sinner, given the Italian isn’t involved at the Barcelona Open. When quizzed about the absence of Sinner, he joked in his pre-tournament press conference: “I won’t miss him this week.
“I saw that I have to win the tournament here if I want to get the number one ranking back. The battle between Jannik and myself is great. It probably provides extra motivation.
“But we’re focused and my mind is set on trying to stay on the path we’re on, trying to keep improving. We’re clear about what we need to do in training and in matches. That’s the main goal, results and points are extra motivation.”