Alcaraz's jovial confession: Dodging a game with Nadal at Roland Garros was top of his list

Carlos Alcaraz likely was set to face Rafael Nadal if Alexander Zverev wasn't drawn against him and he admitted that he wanted no part of a draw against the legendary Spaniard.

He was all smiles as he sat answering questions at his press conference and that continued when he got asked about Nadal. But it was a firm no when he was quizzed about wanting to play him in his perceived final Roland Garros.

"No. (Smiling.) Honestly, no. When I saw that it was 50 percent chances that I could play against Rafa," Alcaraz said, "it...Thanks."

“Well, I know that it's a really special tournament for him, and it's a shame that we're going to watch his last tournament here. All I want to be focused on is to enjoy his last tournament as much as he can play. I want to enjoy his tennis, but obviously everything comes to an end, but honestly, I don't want to see him retiring soon or playing his last tournaments.”

But how is Alcaraz feeling after recent forearm issues. He said that he's able to hit without pain and that he's focused on getting match practice and rhythm. He will open up tomorrow facing the dangerman with a mullet, J.J Wolf.

“I'm feeling better. Every practice that I have done here, at home, it was pretty good. I'm feeling better and better. At least I can practice, hit balls without pain. That's a really good point for me. I'm excited to play my first match here in Roland Garros.”

“This tournament is one of the main reasons that I'm practicing every day, want to be a better player to be able to win these kind of tournaments.. I think we did really good work on the forearm to recover the injury as soon as possible.”

“I come here to this tournament with not too many matches, not as much matches as I wanted, but I'm focusing on the practice. I'm practicing well. I'm getting rhythm. I'm getting confidence on the practice that I think is really important, and I think I don't need too many matches to get my 100%, to get at my high level. So I think with this week here, I’ll be ready for my first match at a really high level. So let's see how it's gonna be, my first match, but I trust that it's going to be a really good match for me.”