“He has a little mental scar tissue” : Steve Johnson on why Carlos Alcaraz skipped the South American clay court swing
Carlos Alcaraz has reached the finals of the 2025 Rotterdam Open, where he will face Alex de Minaur. After achieving the monumental success in 2024, the Spaniard will look to claim his first title of the season on Sunday. Former American tennis pro Steve Johnson believes that the youngster skipped the South American clay court swing this time, owing to an injury he picked up last season.
Last year, the four-time Grand Slam champion had to withdraw from the Rio Open owing to the ankle injury he had picked up during one of the matches. The Spaniard has had some troubles with injuries over the past year, hence this could have played on his mind while deciding his schedule for the 2025 season.
Carlos Alcaraz is also set to play the Qatar Open next week, as he is likely to take a couple of weeks off before the Sunshine Double in March. “He can be better on one surface like most of us would pick in that scenario! He can win any tournament, any surface, any country, name it but maybe he has a little mental scar tissue, he did roll his ankle down in the south of the golden swing last year. Maybe that’s on his mind. He doesn’t wanna get hurt again which is I would say a silly reason not to go but for him, just doesn’t matter! He has picked his schedule a year ago,” the ex-pro said.
“He can play on all surfaces” : John Isner on Carlos Alcaraz
John Isner believes that Carlos Alcaraz is equally efficient on all surfaces. Recently, Sam Querrey stated that the Spaniard was unable to adapt on surfaces other than clay, which his former American counterpart disagrees with.
“He can play on all surfaces. But I don’t think he’s better on clay than he is indoor hard. I think you’re splitting hairs if you would say one surface is better than the others,” Isner said.
Carlos Alcaraz also voiced concerns around players’ well-being earlier this week. He expressed his displeasure over different balls being used at different tournaments, which becomes a big concern for the players. The Spaniard also mentioned that a lot of players had elbow issues last season, which could be narrowed down to the different balls being used.
“I think there were a lot of injuries last year, a lot of players with elbow or shoulder injuries. They need to change something. I know they’re going to change it. Every week, practically every week we have different balls, different conditions, so it’s difficult to adapt to it,” he said.
