"This latest one is not even a blip on the radar" - Tennis analyst believes Alcaraz's injury not of major concern if Spaniard plays Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to the tour during the 2023 Golden Swing, after spending four months on the sidelines due to injuries.

Alcaraz featured in the finals of the first two tournaments on his return to the tour, lifting his seventh career title at the Argentina Open before failing to defend his Rio Open title after losing to Cameron Norrie in the final.

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The 19-year-old, however, decided not to compete for a third straight week – in Acapulco – after he witnessed a recurrence of his leg injury that forced him to pull out of the Australian Open.

Speaking about Alcaraz’s decision, tennis analyst Gill Gross said that the young Spaniard shouldn’t have competed at the ongoing Mexican Open regardless of the leg discomfort.

Back-to-back finals after coming back from injury, I don’t know (if) he was in a great position where he should have played Acapulco regardless,” Gill Gross said on his Monday Match Analysis podcast. “I would go as far as to say that he almost definitely should not have played Acapulco.

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The recent injury setback, which the former World No. 1 revealed was a grade 1 strain, wasn’t much of a concern as per the tennis analyst.

“In that respect, I’m not really worried about this latest thing,” he added. “It seems like he retore (the same muscle as from the previous injury), but it’s grade 1. So, it’s more of a strain.”

The analyst was of the opinion that if Carlos Alcaraz was to recover in time for the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells Masters, the strain shouldn’t even be counted as an injury.

“So, for Alcaraz, if he doesn’t miss Indian Wells, this latest one is not even a blip on the radar," he concluded. "It doesn’t even register on the Richter scale. So, in that case, he would be fine.”