Carlos Alcaraz took to the practice courts ahead of the French Open to have a rally with a disabled tennis player. And footage on social media shows just how much the two men enjoyed their knock-up. Alcaraz is among the favourites to win this year’s edition of the French Open, despite suffering with an arm injury in recent weeks, and will begin the tournament by facing a qualifier.
Alcaraz has endured a subdued couple of months after being forced to miss the Italian Open as well as clay-court tournaments in Barcelona and Monte Carlo due to his arm issue.
When he was able to take to the court at the Madrid Open in April, he was dumped out by eventual winner Andrey Rublev at the quarter-final stage. And the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia saw another last eight exit at the hands of Alexander Zverev.
But Alcaraz appears to be raring to go ahead of Roland Garros, which gets underway on Sunday. And he warmed up for the tournament by hitting with French tennis player Arthur Delaye.
The two men hit back and forth in front of the watching crowd as a drone flew above to capture the encounter. And Delaye posted a video of the rally to X as he wrote: “Thank you Carlos Alcaraz. Amazing practice despite my disability and cerebral palsy with @carlosalcaraz.
“I dreamt of this moment for a long time and it finally happened so thx @babolat. Thank you so much Carlos for your generosity, smile and your kindness. #rolandgarros.”
Alcaraz reached the semi-finals of the French Open last year before succumbing to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament. The Spaniard previously progressed to the last eight in 2022, where he was dispatched by Zverev in four sets.
And former French Open finalist Alex Corretja has admitted tennis fans need to see Alcaraz fit and well in the French capital this time around as he told Eurosport: “He’s been working hard, especially physically. He’s been testing his forehand in the last few days to see if he’s going to be able to be 100 per cent.
“We’re waiting for his news to see if he’s capable to play at Roland Garros, but definitely we need him. We want him. It’s very spectacular to have Carlos in the draw and everything he brings to the tennis world and to the draw.
“I think and I hope he’s going to be ready, but he will need to see how he handles the whole situation because he didn’t play too many matches. I saw him live in Madrid and once he gets in the rhythm, he’s very dangerous. His forehand is working well, but maybe he wasn’t hitting it as hard as before.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk