Carlos Alcaraz made his long-awaited return to tennis yesterday, as he battered Alexander Shevchenko into submission to cruise into the Madrid Open Round of 32.
It marked his first match in nearly a month, having last been dumped out of the Miami Open by Grigor Dimitrov, with a persisting forearm injury keeping him out of Monte-Carlo and Barcelona.
But he is back, and back with a rather emphatic bang.
He has since provided a much-needed update on his fitness following that return to action.
Carlos Alcaraz provides injury update
Speaking after the match to the Tennis Channel, his chat was unsurprisingly dominated by two facets: his recent injury, and Rafael Nadal.
And whilst the latter likely draws far more intrigue, their proposed pairing will simply not be allowed to happen if the two cannot stay fit.
Already has Roger Federer’s former coach detailed his worry about these issues plaguing the 20-year-old so early in his career, but when asked about it after beating Shevchenko, he was upbeat.
He noted: ‘Yeah, I mean it was something I was worried about before the match, if I’m going to feel it or not. But it was almost perfect.
‘On the court, at the end of the first set let’s say, I tried to forget it a little bit. But it’s difficult to do it. But anyways my forehand worked pretty well today, I’m really happy with the way I hit my forehand in general.’
Carlos Alcaraz played as if he had never been out
Cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 win, at times Shevchenko shook his head whilst donning a wry smile, knowing that there was very little he could have done to knock Alcaraz out of his rhythm.
It was like he had never been away, and given it was actually his first clay-court match of the season, he looked remarkably comfortable.
After all, firing home a blistering 19 winners to his opponent’s three detailed the story of the clash, with the youngster simply having too much power and finesse on the day.
This was especially pertinent given the two would share 14 unforced errors each, as Shevchenko struggled to gain a foothold, and Alcaraz removed the rustiness.
Perhaps the most damning indication of the Kazakhstani tennis star’s struggles was the fact that he won just 22% of points on his second serve, yet only found a first serve 58% of the time.
The stats simply don’t lie, and in the end, these figures are not enough to trouble someone of Alcaraz’s quality and precision.
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