Carlos Alcaraz started his season on a high after winning the Australian Open. However, he had to spend almost five months on the sidelines due to a wrist injury. The Spaniard made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open upon his return to the tour after recovering from the injury.
Alcaraz then took part in the Laver Cup for Team Europe and was successful in defending his Japan Open title after beating Jiri Lehecka in the final.
The Spaniard admitted he hasn’t been at his absolute best in the fag end of the season and remaining mentally fresh will be the key to success ahead of the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
“I’m feeling fresh mentally, which for me it’s the most important thing,” Alcaraz said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I’m ready to take the challenge of this tournament. If we see a couple years back, probably this swing or this part of the season, it’s never been my best one.
“Right now, I just want to be in a good state for this tournament, because I really want to win the tournaments, this one and the tournaments that I have in a couple months at least one day. So right now, I think it’s an extra boost that I have for the rest of the season.”
Meanwhile, Alcaraz trained with Holger Rune, who is also making a comeback after knee injury, for a week in Murcia in August and offered advice to the Dane in Shanghai.
“It’s a slow process. The injury he had, it’s a really complicated one because I would say the movement in tennis, I would say it’s almost everything. I think his style is about the movement, to move well on court and cover the court as much as he can,” Alcaraz said.
“He might lose some matches right now, but personally I’m really happy to see him back on court. He came to Murcia to practice with me one week. Then I was seeing him playing good. It is about to get into matches, to get into the rhythm of competition, which is really, really important. I wish him all the best. I’m happy that he came back on tour. He has to be patient because it’s going to be a slow process, but he’s going to get to the point he wants to get.”
Alcaraz will face Juan Manuel Cerundolo in his opening match in Shanghai on Saturday.
