Carlos Alcaraz suffered an injury shock ahead of the 2024 US Open as his training session with Francisco Cerundolo had to be shortened and he admitted that he “didn’t feel well enough to continue training”.
The four-time Grand Slam winner limped during his exchange with Argentinean Cerundolo early Saturday and decided not to continue the session, but he appeared at the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day later in the afternoon and appeared to be able to move freely.
During his press conference later in the day, the 2022 US Open champion insisted that he was “still feeling good” and should be 100% fit for the tournament.
“I think it’s OK. I just stopped my training as a precaution,” Alcaraz said. “I didn’t feel well enough to continue training, just in case things got worse.”
“But after a few hours I’m still fine, you know, my feet. So tomorrow I’ll try to go back to training at 100% without thinking about it, but today I’ll pay attention.”
The number three seed added: “I don’t want to stop training. I want to train, I want to get better, I want to prepare for the tournament. But honestly, about the ankle, I haven’t been worried about it. So I’m sure that tomorrow or in two days I’ll be back to 100%, for sure. It’s time.”
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Alcaraz will face qualifier Li Tu in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, but he goes into the final Grand Slam of the year after a second-round loss to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open.
This was his only match on hard court, as he skipped the Canadian Open due to the clash with the Paris Olympics at Roland Garros.
“Of course, I would have liked to have played more matches on hard court before the US Open. But I mean, that doesn’t affect me at all,” he said. “If I look back a bit, for example at Roland Garros, I hadn’t played many matches on clay and it was a pretty good result. And then at Wimbledon, the same thing.”
The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion continued: “I don’t want to think that it will be the same as the last two Grand Slams, but I’m not worried about not having too many matches on hard court.”
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