Carlos Alcaraz will "most definitely" be back for French Open, says Gill Gross amid injury concerns
Carlos Alcaraz's withdrawal from the Monte-Carlo Masters cast a shadow of doubt on his French Open participation, with observers discussing the nature and seriousness of the Spaniard's latest injury.
Sharing a positive outlook for the same, Monday's Match Analysis podcast host Grill Gorss said he felt that Carlos Alacaraz would "most definitely" be back to the fitness level needed to ensure his participation at the French Open.
Notably, Alcaraz has cited post-traumatic arthritis in his left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine as reasons for pulling out of the season's first Masters 1000 tournament on clay at Monte-Carlo.
"Most definitely, this to me what he is dealing with right now, which is traumatic arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis in his left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine, to me, neither of those things are bad injuries," Gross said in he latest episode of his podcast.
Elaborating on his earlier assessment, Gross said the withdrawal from Monte-Carlo felt more strategic than anything else and reminded him of Alacaraz withdrawing from Acapulco to give his body some much-needed rest.
"In fact, this reminds me a lot of Acapulco," Gross said. Remember, Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of Acapulco. And there were question marks heading into Indian Wells, about what kind of physical state is algorithm."
Gross went on to approve of such strategic moves, saying it would not have been in Alacaraz's best interest to continue to play for three weeks in a row or longer as it would expose him to injuries and fatigue.
"He pulled out of that Las Vegas exhibition and if you'll remember my take heading into Indian Wells on 'was he injured?' It would have been smart to pull out of Acapulco. He hadn't played in three plus months prior and then he made back to back finals in Buenos Aries and Rio. So should he play three weeks or row after not playing for over 12 weeks. No."
Carlos Alcaraz has a host of points to defend in lead-up to French Open
While the advent of the claycourt swing is bound to give way to conversations about the French Open favorites, Carlos Alcaraz has a long way to go before that.
The Spaniard made some of his biggest breakthroughs on the Tour last year during the European summer, winning as many as two titles — including his first at a Masters 1000 level on the surface in Madrid.
Heading into the French Open, he will need to defend the 1000 points in the Spanish capital as well as the 500 points that he added to his tally by lifting the trophy in Barcelona.