Carlos Alcaraz provides an update on his injuries after shaky start at title defence

Carlos Alcaraz acknowledges that he was anxious before making his Indian Wells Open comeback since he wasn’t sure how his ankle would fare after his most recent injury.

At the ATP Masters 1000 event in California, Alcaraz made his competitive comeback, having rolled his ankle during the first set of his match at the Rio Open. He had been out of play for just over two weeks.

Before gathering himself to cruise to a 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-1 victory over world No. 40 Matteo Arnaldi, the Spaniard’s title defense in the desert got off to a rough start.
Overall, it was a decent practice for the world No. 2; but, he acknowledges that his nervousness at the start of the match had a part in his bad start.

“I think the fact that it was the first match made me anxious. Of course, I find this event to be really meaningful. “I want to perform well,” declared the current Wimbledon victor.

“Playing at a high intensity for the first time in the match, I wasn’t sure how my ankle would react. I could think of a number of things.
“Yeah, that made me a little concerned since I couldn’t give the game my whole attention. However, I have to handle that. I always play aggressively while maintaining composure and waiting for my opportunities.

“That’s not something you consider when you’re anxious. Your hitting of the ball isn’t up to par. You’re not moving as well as you would like to. It seems to be the main distinction.

Alcaraz’s match at the Rio Open lasted just two games, and he has only played eight complete matches this year.

In the end, the ankle injury was not too significant because on March 3, he recovered from his exhibition match against Rafael Nadal in Las Vegas.

However, the two-time Grand Slam champion acknowledges that he is beginning to feel “really good.”

I don’t have a lot of matches when I come here. “I believe I had more matches and more rhythm when I came here last year,” he remarked.
I’m currently healing from an ankle injury. I couldn’t practice as much at a high intensity as I wanted to, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it all the time. Now that I’m feeling much better, though, I believe I need to take the rhythm one step at a time. That, in my opinion, is the main distinction between this year and previous.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 15th seed, is the next opponent for Alcaraz. If he wants to continue leading Jannik Sinner in the ATP Rankings, he will probably need to make another deep run at the Indian Wells Open.

Sinner is now 105 points ahead of his opponent at No. 2 in the Live Rankings after Alcaraz, the reigning champion, dropped 1,000 points Italian made it to the second round.