Four-time Major champion Carlos Alcaraz will look to make it a fabulous five in New York this coming fortnight, but allayed fears over a rolled ankle injury sustained during his practice session alongside Francisco Cerundolo on Saturday. The reigning French Open and Wimbledon titlist, who lost a three-setter vs. Gael Monfils in Cincinnati last week, should be okay after some rest.
Alcaraz: Stopped as a precaution, upset for Cerundolo
Carlos Alcaraz [3] vs. Li Tu [Q]
Slated for Day 2 at US Open 2024, Tuesday night session
First-round singles matches – across both tours – start Monday
Four-time Major champ has Seb Korda [16] and Jack Draper [25] in his section
CARLOS Alcaraz regretfully cut a practice session short today after rolling his ankle, but insisted it was purely precautionary measures which saw the 21-year-old stop his hit with world no. 29 Francisco Cerundolo to prevent possibly aggravating the issue.
Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon titles this summer, has suffered his fair share of injuries – largely muscular – during an illustrious career to date. The Spaniard has only withdrawn from one of the 14 Majors he’s played as a pro though and insists this won’t be a second injury-enforced elimination either.
During his media day press conference, the Olympic silver medallist said:
“I didn’t feel comfortable enough to keep practicing just in case everything is going to be worse. But after a few hours later I’m still feeling good, so tomorrow I will try to be practicing again 100% without thinking about it, today I’ll take care. I wasn’t worried at all for my US Open participation – obviously angry because I didn’t want to stop, just to respect Cerundolo as well.”
He was later back for Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day and said to be in good spirits, as the attention focuses on his lack of match practice compared to others like Cincinnati champion Jannik Sinner and Olympic champion Alexander Zverev – both tipped for a deep run – after a shock three-set collapse vs. Gael Monfils last week.
“I would have loved to have more hard court matches on my belt but it doesn’t affect me at all. I hadn’t too much matches on clay, and it was a pretty good result at Roland Garros… same thing in Wimbledon. I don’t want to think it’s going to be the same than the previous two Grand Slams, but I’m not worried.”
Defending singles champion Novak Djokovic, who pipped Alcaraz in two tiebreak sets to win Olympic gold on August 4, is another top player said to have sustained a niggling injury before practicing with Holger Rune yesterday as the Serb planned to remove the compression sleeve from his surgically repaired right knee.
Alcaraz will open against Australian qualifier Li Tu on Tuesday, the 28-year-old making his US Open debut having recovered from a set down to topple sixth seed Jesper de Jong in the final qualifying round after straight-set victories against Alcaraz’s compatriot Alejandro Moro Canas and Argentine veteran Marco Trungelliti.
Writer’s note: Just like with this year’s other Majors, scheduling conflicts mean I can’t commit to doing daily round-ups like previous seasons. One day in the future, I’ll be accredited for these Slam events and be able to offer more.
Until then, content will again be centred around specific matchups or the story of the day, diving into storylines and more, especially with so much ground to explore and not enough time to do everything justice. Nonetheless, stay tuned to moandsports.com for coverage — draw analysis coming shortly.
Picture source: Getty Images
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