Carlos Alcaraz begins Barcelona defence with medical timeout injury scare

Carlos Alcaraz overcame a minor injury scare as he defeated Otto Virtanen to progress in the Barcelona Open.

Just a few days after losing the Monte Carlo final, Alcaraz was back in action as he competed in his home tournament and the scoreline may not reflect the difficulty he endured on court.

While the world No 130 Virtanen provided as much of a challenge as to be expected, Alcaraz’s main problem was with his own fitness and an issue with his right wrist.

With the score at 5-4 in Alcaraz’s favour, the physio was called on to the court to examine Alcaraz’s hand before taping his wrist. The match is Alcaraz’s sixth in eight days and his body may be showing signs of that packed schedule.

He did however overcome that to defeat Virtanen in 1 hour and 25 minutes, setting up a round of 16 match against Tomas Machac. Their head-to-head record is tied at one apiece but the pair have never faced each other on clay.

Afterwards, he said: “It feels great to be back. To get another win here in Barcelona in front of my people, my everything. I missed playing here in Barcelona. I tried to adapt my game as good as I can. It wasn’t easy. This morning was my first practice here. That with the conditions, different conditions than Monte Carlo.

“But overall I’m just really happy with the way I played and solved the problems I had in the first set. I ended up playing great tennis. Hopefully in the next round feeling a little bit better. Let’s see how it’s gonna be.”

On the injury, Alcaraz said he hoped it was “nothing” and just a reflection of a switch to clay.

“I have had little time between tournaments and clay is one of the most demanding surfaces,” he said.

“Small issues and discomfort always appear in the body. I will look at it with my physio and my team, and hopefully it is nothing.”

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