Carlos Alcaraz admitted that he was a bit nervous during his first-round match against Matteo Arnaldi which he won 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 6-1.
Alcaraz twisted his ankle two weeks ago at the Rio Open and there were doubts that the Spaniard may withdraw from the ongoing tournament but the two-time Grand Slam winner returned and played, however, he wasn’t sure how his ankle would respond.
“I was probably nervous because it was the first match. Obviously, this tournament is really special for me. I want to do well,” Alcaraz said after the match.
“This was the first match playing at high intensity and I didn’t know how my ankle was going to respond. A lot of things came to my mind.
“I couldn’t be 100 per cent focused in the match and, yes, that made me a bit nervous. But I have to deal with that. My game is playing aggressive all the time, trying to stay calm and waiting for my chances.
“When you get nervous, you don’t think about that. You don’t hit the ball as well as you want to. You don’t move as well as you want to. I think that’s the big difference.”
Having played only eight matches in 2024 so far, Alcaraz admitted he didn’t have last year’s rhythm when he clinched the title but he was confident that he is “feeling good”.
“I come here without too many matches. I think last year I came here with more matches and more rhythm,” he said.
“Now, I’m recovering from an ankle injury. I was thinking about it all the time and I couldn’t practice as much as I wanted to at high intensity. But now I’m getting better and feeling really good, but I think I have to take the rhythm one step at a time. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this year.”
Alcaraz will now take on Felix Auger-Alliassime in the second-round match on March 11.