Carlos Alcaraz, the world number three from Spain, has advanced to the last 16 of the Olympic singles tennis tournament despite battling a groin injury. Alcaraz defeated Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) on Monday, keeping his hopes alive for a gold medal to add to his four Grand Slam titles.
Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, required medical attention on his right leg late in the second set and had to save a set point. However, he recovered to secure the victory and will now face Roman Safiullin of Russia in the next round.
“It’s a pain that I’ve been dealing with the last tournaments so I know what I have to do,” Alcaraz said of his injury. “It’s normal for a tennis player as this game is so demanding. I will try to recover and be ready and at 100 percent in the doubles.”
Alcaraz is also scheduled to team up with Rafael Nadal in the doubles competition on Tuesday, where they will face Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof. Nadal, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the singles tournament, is seeking his second Olympic doubles gold medal after winning in Rio in 2016.
“When Djokovic is playing at this level it’s really, really difficult to play against him,” Alcaraz said of Nadal’s defeat. “He was really aggressive, made no mistakes, moving very, very well. I saw Rafa playing let’s say not his best tennis for sure. But when Djokovic is like this, he was the better one.”
Griekspoor, who has lost all three of his meetings with Alcaraz, expressed skepticism about the severity of the Spaniard’s injury. “I didn’t see any problems with him,” said the Dutchman. “He went for every shot in the tiebreak. It’s not like he fell down or twisted his ankle and that he couldn’t walk anymore. For me, he was still all over the place.”
Despite the injury concerns, Alcaraz remains determined to compete at his best in both singles and doubles. He will be hoping to emulate his success at the Grand Slams and add an Olympic gold medal to his impressive resume.
