Carlos Alcaraz is nursing an elbow injury going into Wimbledon that is ‘bothering him,’ according to coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Alcaraz will be the fifth seed at the Championships, although he has not played since losing in the French Open quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev.
He has been spotted practicing with a bandage on his arm in London, and Ferrero has now shed some light on what it is all about.
“It (the elbow) has been bothering him a bit, and the bandage is to protect a little more,” Ferrero told Eurosport.
“Carlos likes to play on grass, he likes to play here. Physically, he has been working well and at a tennis level, taking care of his elbow a little, which had the bandage.
“That the balls are so heavy bothers him a bit. This week is important to prepare, feel good and that everything is in the right place and to fight.”
Carlos Alcaraz was being talked about as a genuine contender for Roland Garros this time last month, but he has barely been mentioned in the lead-up to Wimbledon.
Ferrero, though, says that the short nature of the grass season makes Wimbledon a tough surface for which to prepare – and an even tougher one to predict.
“This tournament is the most difficult, because it is the one with the least preparation,” said Ferrero.
“Physically you have to arrive better, because it is the one that recovers the most from one match to the next. This tournament is an unknown quantity.
“There are always many surprises on this surface. You can complicate a game that you see well and vice versa.”
This will be Alcaraz’s second appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon, with him losing to Daniil Medvedev in the second round last year.
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