ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – World number one Carlos Alcaraz is confident he will be ready to compete at his best level at the Australian Open in January, despite an abdominal injury that shortened his pre-season training block.
The 19-year-old Spaniard recovered from a muscle tear in his left abdomen that ruled him out of the ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals at the end of his last campaign and only started practising fully a week ago.
Two defeats by Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi this weekend helped Alcaraz dip his toes back into action and he believes he has enough time to train and find his game before the first Grand Slam of 2023 comes along on January 16.
“I would say the key is to practise a lot, spend a lot of hours on court. With that, you’re going to reach your best level and be ready for the season,” the reigning US Open champion said.
“I have one month before the Australian Open, so I have time to keep training, trying to reach my level and I would say I will be ready and 100 per cent heading into Australia.”
