US Open 2024: Carlos Alcaraz downplays ankle injury fears

The four-time Grand Slam winner had cut short a training session on Saturday after twisting his right ankle but said his participation in the U.S. Open was not under threat.

Carlos Alcaraz practices ahead of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre. | Photo Credit: AFP

Carlos Alcaraz cut short a U.S. Open training session on Saturday after twisting his right ankle but said he isn’t worried that it will be a problem for the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.

“I think it is OK. I stopped my practice just for precaution,” said the 21-year-old from Spain, who won the championship at Flushing Meadows in 2022 for the first of his four major trophies. “I didn’t feel comfortable enough to keep practicing, just in case if everything is going to be worse.”

Alcaraz said he didn’t think the injury would put his participation in the U.S. Open in doubt. He was more upset about losing time on court as he gets ready to try to win what would be a third consecutive Slam title after triumphs at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July.

“I don’t want to stop any practice. I want to practice, I want to get better, I want to get ready for the tournament,” he said, adding: “I’m sure that tomorrow, or in two days, I’m going to be at 100%, for sure.”

The third-seeded Alcaraz is scheduled to play his first-round match Tuesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium against 188th-ranked Australian Li Tu, who will be appearing in just the second Grand Slam match of his career.

For Alcaraz, the preparation has not been ideal. He played only one match on a hard court in the leadup to the U.S. Open — a loss to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open during which Alcaraz destroyed his racket by repeatedly hitting it against the court, something he later apologized for on social media.

The lack of hard-court work doesn’t concern Alcaraz, even if he did acknowledge he’d prefer to have had more before getting to New York.

After all, he noted, he didn’t play a lot of matches on clay before this year’s French Open because of a lingering forearm issue and only played two on grass before Wimbledon — and left both of those events as the champion.

“I don’t want to think that it’s going to be the same (as) the previous two Grand Slams,” he said with a smile, “but I’m not worried about not having too many matches on hard courts.”

Alcaraz also reflected on his most recent high-profile contest: a two-tiebreaker loss to Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles final at the Paris Olympics three weeks ago. The tears flowed after that one, and Alcaraz said that day he felt bad for letting his country down.

“It was a difficult moment to deal (with) for me,” Alcaraz said Saturday. “But in front of me, I had a really good player that was fighting for the same thing as me. And he deserve it. So days after the Olympics, I realized that I won the silver medal. It was a great achievement for me that I have to be proud of. I’ll try to keep going, try to learn (from) this match. ... The next important matches of my career, I’m going to deal (with) in a different way, or a better way, than I did in the Olympics.”