By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
World no. 1 male lawn tennis player Carlos Alcaraz will be missing the first Grand Slam tournament of the year due to an injury he announced last January 7, 2023.
The Spanish teen sensation took his frustrations to social media and posted that he suffered a right leg muscle injury during his intensive preseason training.
“When I was at my best in preseason, I picked up an injury through a chance, unnatural movement in training. This time it’s the semimembranosus muscle in my right leg,” Alcaraz posted on Twitter.
Alcaraz took the sport by storm last year when he qualified in the main draw of several major tournaments at 19 years old.
In just a span of eight months, Alacaraz made a name for himself after capturing two Master 1000 championship titles and a promising run during the French Open.
After failing to barge into the grand finals in his first few tries at the Grand Slam level, Alcaraz had his best outing of 2022 when he clinched the US Open trophy.
Alcaraz fought world no. 5 ranked Casper Ruud during the finals and outlasted him in four grueling sets, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3, to capture his first-ever US Open title.
His 2022 campaign also helped him ink his name in the ATP history books after becoming the world’s youngest world no.1.
The other tennis legends even agreed that Alcaraz is the future of men’s tennis including 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal and 20-time Grand Slam king Roger Federer.
As of now, the Alcaraz camp is yet to release the definite timetable for his return but didn’t announce that the injury will take longer to heal.
“I’d worked so hard to get to my best level for Australia but unfortunately I won’t be able to play the Care A2+ Kooyong or the Australian Open. It’s tough, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look forward. See you in 2024,” Alcaraz added.
