"Start at the Slams and work backwards with your priorities": Andy Roddick hopes Carlos Alcaraz withdrawal part of new strategy

Former world number one Andy Roddick believes that Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has entered the part of his career where he must prioritise Grand Slams over everything else. The 20-year-old is often regarded as one of the most highly-rated players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category along with Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz recently decided to withdraw from the ATP 1000 event Monte-Carlo Masters, citing a forearm injury. That development cast doubts about the possibility of the current world number three potentially missing more events in the future, including the French Open which will be played in May. Roddick was recently quoted in a report where he analysed those decisions and suggested that such a decision was taken because Alcaraz has now reached a point in his career where he has to put playing Grand Slams ahead of any other event.

"You know he doesn't want to miss any of these clay court events, especially in his home country,” he said. “I guess the silver lining is that it's an arm injury. Hopefully, it's not structurally off. That would be a lot more concerning. But at least he can keep his legs in shape. He's not going to be risking fitness with the arm injury. It's not as if he's going to come back, hopefully not looking for his pacing with his legs, his movement. He can still do all of those drills, better safe than sorry. He has entered the part of his career where you start at the Slams and work backwards with your priorities. Hopefully, that's what he's doing here.”