Carlos Alcaraz reveals horrific accident prior to title win at Barcelona Open 2022
Carlos Alcaraz recently revealed a horrific accident he had last year before winning the Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard won the third Masters 1000 title of his career at Indian Wells in March 2023. However, things took an unwanted turn when he was unable to defend his Miami Open title and thus lost his World No. 1 ranking to Djokovic. The 19-year-old also pulled out of the recently concluded Monte-Carlo Masters due to injury.
Nevertheless, the good news is that Alcaraz recently shared pictures of himself practicing on the clay courts of Barcelona, preparing for his title defense at the ATP 500 tournament this year.
Carlos Alcaraz sat down for an interview with TennisTv prior to competing on his home soil and reminisced about his run last year. The teenager disclosed that when he was about to warm up before the semifinals, he fell down the stairs. The incident led the former World No. 1 to believe that he wouldn't be able to play in his next match at the time, which was "tough" for him.
"I was about to warm up before the semifinal on Sunday, it was suspended, you know the semifinal on Saturday. Yeah, I was going down the stairs and fell down from the stairs a little bit," Alcaraz said.
"I couldn't warm up. I couldn't finish the warm-up on court and it was a tough moment for me because I thought that I was not able to play the semifinal and to get through that, it was tough for me," he added.
When asked if he felt any pain during the semifinal match, the Spaniard answered in the negative.
Beause of the adrenaline rush and the assistance of his doctor and physio, the Spaniard was able to push through. Carlos Alcaraz went on to joke that he has been extra cautious on the stairs since then.
"No, because of the adrenaline, when you are playing, you forget everything and you are focused on playing. Of course, with my doctor and physio, they did some stuff to help me not feel the pain. Now, I am really really careful when I am on the stairs," Alcaraz said.
"I couldn't finish the warm-up on court" 😕
Defending Barcelona champion @carlosalcaraz recalls a freak accident just hours before he won the 2022 title... https://t.co/tZekGAP35u
Carlos Alcaraz will aim to defend an ATP title for the first time in his career in Barcelona
Carlos Alcaraz will start his campaign in Barcelona against Portugal's Nuno Borges on Tuesday (April 18). The rising star has quickly become a fan favorite and will be looking to put on an exciting performance in the tournament.
The 19-year-old will be hoping to defend an ATP title for the first time in his career. However, this is not his first tournament as the defending champion, as he came close to defending his first title last year at Umag, but fell short to Jannik Sinner.