Carlos Alcaraz insists he will be ready to face Australian qualifier Li Tu in the first round of the US Open despite having to abruptly end a training session on Saturday after spraining his right ankle.
“I think it’s OK. I just stopped my training as a precaution,” said the 21-year-old Spaniard, who won the 2022 championship at Flushing Meadows, his first of four major trophies.
“I didn’t feel comfortable enough to keep training in case things got worse.”
Alcaraz was more upset about losing time on the court as he prepares to win his third consecutive Grand Slam title following triumphs at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July.
“I don’t want to stop training. I want to train, I want to get better, I want to prepare for the tournament,” he said, adding: “I’m sure that tomorrow or in two days I will definitely be at 100 percent.”
Third-seeded Alcaraz is scheduled to play his first-round match on Tuesday evening (Wednesday AEST) at Arthur Ashe Stadium against 188th-seeded Tu, who will be playing only his second career Grand Slam match.
The 28-year-old Tu has had a career path that was anything but predictable until his match against Alcaraz – only his second Grand Slam match.
A talented young player, he gave up competitive tennis for six years at the age of 18 and instead attended university in Adelaide, where he earned a degree in economics before becoming a tennis coach.
After winning a Challenger Tour event in Seoul in 2022, he revealed that coaching talented children sparked his own love and appreciation for the game before he was persuaded to return to the tour.
“The mentality is different this time,” he said at the time.
Alcaraz has played just one match on hard court leading up to the Open – a loss to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open in which he destroyed his racket by repeatedly slamming it on the ground, for which he later apologized on social media.
He pointed out, however, that he had not played many matches on clay before this year’s French Open due to ongoing forearm problems, and only played two matches on grass before Wimbledon – leaving both events as champion.
– with AAP
