Carlos Alcaraz has been warned that he could face multiple setbacks like Rafael Nadal.
Andrea Petkovic has admitted that she is “worried” that Carlos Alcaraz could struggle with repeated injuries for the rest of his time as a tennis player. The 20-year-old has already been forced to take some brief breaks from competition this season due to physical issues. And the retired German star fears that Alcaraz could wind up like his compatriot Rafael Nadal, who has been injury-prone throughout his triumphant career.
Alcaraz has suffered multiple setbacks over the last year, starting when he injured his abdomen at the 2022 Paris Masters. The issue forced him to end his season early and he was then forced to miss the 2023 Australian Open when he picked up a new leg injury in his pre-season training.
Since then, the two-time Major winner has been forced to skip tournaments in Acapulco, Monte Carlo and Basel due to various physical issues, and also suffered with cramping during his French Open semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic. With so many niggles cropping up at this early stage in his career, former world No 9 Petkovic has voiced her concern about his future.
“When someone has an injury very early in their career, it always seems to bother them,” she said during an appearance on the Rennae Stubbs podcast. “That’s what happens when you’re still growing. I’m worried about Alcaraz.”
The seven-time title winner also made a comparison with Nadal, explaining that the 22-time Grand Slam champion was more prone to getting injured compared to his rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – something that remained consistent for the rest of his career. “The same goes for Rafa,” Petkovic continued.
“Rafa had a serious injury early on, and he always had injuries. But if you look at someone like Djokovic, Roger or Angelique Kerber, they were as young players, never injured.” Petkovic found herself in a similar position to Alcaraz early in her own career.
After breaking into the top 10 in 2011 she picked up a back injury during the 2012 Australian Open and, later that year, tore several ligaments in her ankle. Petkovic was able to return to the top 10 in 2015 but she continued to struggle with her form and faced physical setbacks until her retirement in 2022.
The 36-year-old added: “I always had problems because of that. Because your body compensates for it. If you have bad luck at the beginning of your career while you are still growing and suffer a serious injury, then it very often comes back.”
For now, it appears that none of the world No 2’s injuries have been serious and they have usually only forced him to miss the odd tournament in the calendar. But Alcaraz himself has already admitted that he needs to learn that the full tennis season runs from January to November.
“I have so many things to improve on, and that’s one of them,” the 20-year-old told the ATP after a relatively disappointing end to the season, where he failed to win any titles after Wimbledon. “Learning that a tennis player’s season doesn’t end in June, August and September, it carries on until November.”
