Alcaraz warns in Tokyo: “I’m not going to say much, but I’m far from what I want”

The return of Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open it was shocking. After almost five months without competing, dealing with a delicate injury to his right wrist, he reached the quarterfinals and almost managed to overcome an excellent Ben Sheltonin a match that ended at three-thirty in the morning in New York.

A comeback within the reach of the gifted, although when there is a physical ailment involved everyone invites caution, the first being himself and his team. They know how to measure the moment, where they come from and also where they want to go according to Carlos Alcaraz accumulate competition.

It is not surprising that the Murcian is showing ups and downs in his defense of the title in the Tokyo ATP 500. In his three matches he has had to overcome set points in the opening set. It is erratic, but it maintains the ability to increase benefits just when the game demands it in a crucial situation.

Overcome the American Alex Michelsenthe Italian Matteo Arnaldi and the Canadian Denis Shapovalov Carlos Alcaraz plays this Monday against the Mallorcan Jaume Munar, who also went through his own ordeal due to a shoulder ailment that made him enter late, and incorrectly, into the dirt tour, the same one that the Murcian abandoned in full Gothic.

The tennis player from El Palmar senses difficulties, he also protects himself by announcing that he has not yet fully reconciled with his best tennis, that of winner of the Australian Open and Doha at the beginning of the season.

Asked about his current level, Alcaraz was direct in his analysis. “I’m not going to tell you much, but I’m still far from what I want,” he said. He has played nine singles matches on his return. It lacks competition.

“I’m doing great things, I’m training well, but it’s different to really compete than to train. I have to make the things that work in training also come out in the games,” he commented to the microphones of the ATP in Tokyo.

Consider that it is a matter of time, of maintaining that routine of improvement in daily work. “I’m happy with how I’m doing on the court, with how I feel. I’m doing everything I can,” he says.

He wants to revalidate his crown in Tokyo. Even without his 100%, his margin compared to most of his rivals is enormous. And his bar may not be high by his measure, it is high for his opponents.

“The tournaments I have ahead of me, the games I play, are going to be an interesting test for me. I am going to use the experience to improve,” concluded Carlos Alcaraz, who has Munar as next opponent.

That he would see them on Tuesday, if he goes to the final, with the Czech Jiri Lehecka or the Monegasque Valentin Vacherot. There is still a lot of work to do in Tokyo, before immediately leaving for Shanghai to face the ATP Masters 1000 that this Chinese city hosts.