Daniil Medvedev said any potential Carlos Alcaraz fitness issues will come in his legs and not his wrist as he returns to competitive tennis.
Alcaraz’s first-round match against Roman Safiullin will be the Spaniard’s first competitive singles action since April and there will be plenty of focus on the wrist which has kept him sidelined.
Medvedev however suggested the five sets of a grand slam will pose more of a challenge to his legs.
“Of course we don’t know the details, right? The injury that he had, but I think if he’s here and he will try to play, it means that he and his team are confident that the injury is not gonna get worsened,” he said.
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“Because, in my opinion, whatever happened to his wrist, I don’t know exactly, it doesn’t matter if he would play three or five sets, because if it’s not completely healed, he would play seven-six in the third and probably is gonna hurt.
“And I don’t think two extra sets will have a big toll on his body for sure because he didn’t play for a long time, like on the legs, glutes, and stuff like this. But probably on his wrist, not really, because if that’s something that has healed, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.
“But it’s more, as I say, for the whole body as itself. If he has a tough match, it could be interesting. To see how he copes. We should not forget that if he has pain, he could retire any moment.
“So I think it’s really nice for me to see him here to play. If I’m going to have the chance, definitely going to watch his match. He’s playing my friend Roman as well, so it’s going to be interesting for me. And I wish that he doesn’t feel any pain and plays freely.”
Alcaraz himself has admitted it was not an easy decision for either him or his team as to whether he was ready to return, especially given the extra sets in a grand slam.
“My team and me, [we] believe that I’m ready. It wasn’t an easy decision,” Alcaraz said. “I just did whatever it took to be ready. I just tried to do everything perfect on and off the court, to feel ready, really long practices, really intense practices- just to see how my wrist is going to react during the practices and after [those] really long days.”
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