Carlos Alcaraz gave a press conference this Monday at the Barcelona Open to explain his withdrawal from a tournament where he was going to defend the title, but which was finally impossible due to the discomfort the Spaniard suffered before the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. He also talked about his chances for the Mutua Madrid Open.
In the press conference of the also known as Barcelona Open, where Alcaraz has not allowed questions to journalists, the Spaniard has explained the moment in which his small injury occurred in his right forearm. In the statements transcribed by José Morón, from Puntodebreak, Alcaraz begins by saying: "It all started in Monte Carlo, in the first training session. After an hour I felt a pretty important discomfort in my forearm. At that moment I thought it wasn't going to be a big deal, but I couldn't play there".
At that point, the priority was to return home to see if he could be ready for the Conde de Godó, which he won in both 2022 and 2023, and where he wanted to make his title defense to kick off his clay court season: "I went home to recover in case I could make it to Barcelona. I had a test on Saturday, which gave positive results, but on Sunday, the first day I hit forehands, it was not as expected. I felt it again and if I increased the intensity, the discomfort increased".
Finally, Carlos Alcaraz added how excited he was to try to play the tournament in Barcelona, while noting that his presence at the Mutua Madrid Open is unknown at the moment: "It was a difficult decision, because this tournament is very special for me. Now I have a few days to go to Madrid. It's not clear at all. I do not want to rush and say that I will be at 100%. I will do everything in my power to be there".
