Carlos Alcaraz gets emotional while recalling 2024 injury struggle and how it negatively impacted his tennis

Carlos Alcaraz recently looked back on his tough injury break last year when he was struggling from forearm niggles. The Spaniard ultimately couldn't play in Monte Carlo and Barcelona due to the above issue, which left him emotionally overwhelmed by his own admission.

Alcaraz enjoyed a good season on the ATP Tour in 2024 as he picked up four titles, with two of them having come at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. However, the 21-year-old did struggle with a right forearm injury before completing the Channel Slam, forcing him to play just one lead-up event before his campaign in Paris.

Netflix, recently released their much-awaited docuseries "Carlos Alcaraz: My Way", where the World No. 3 reminisced about feeling a lot of pain in his dominant hand during a practice session before the 2024 Barcelona Open. After much deliberation with his team, he realized that skipping the ATP 500 tournament to recover was out of the question.

This, in turn, made him emotional of a video segment, of him getting emotional, during a practice session from the first episode of the series, "Finding Joy in the Pain", is something to go by.

"But I got to a point where I felt it. It hurts a lot. After that training session, I felt really s****y," Carlos Alcaraz told Netflix as the first episode showed him walking out of practice disappointed. "At the time, I remember feeling so frustrated that I couldn't hold it in. It was very tough for me."

Carlos Alcaraz's long-time coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, also gave his thoughts on the situation, insisting that his ward always has a tough time dealing with injuries.

"We eventually had to tell him, 'Carlos, you need to hit a normal shot.' Otherwise, we'll go to Barcelona and it'll be an even bigger letdown," Juan Carlos Ferrero said. "It's always been a bit difficult for him to deal with physical problems. I remember when he first started getting cramps, he was like, 'No, I can't play. Impossible.'"

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Carlos Alcaraz looks back on forearm injury struggles: "After a week's of rest, I was still feeling s****y and worried"

Carlos Alcaraz poses with Coupe des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros-Stade | Image Source: Getty

During the first episode of his docuseries, Carlos Alcaraz further elaborates on what was going on in his mind last year when his forearm was injured.

"Ever since I was a kid, what I've needed whenever I step into the court is to give it my all," he said. "When I'm not giving it my all, when I'm in second gear, everything is much harder. After a week's of rest and recovery, I was still feeling s****y and worried about my forearm injury."

The World No. 3, eventually made his tour-level return at the 2024 Madrid Open, where he lost to the eventual winner, Andrey Rublev, in three sets in the quarterfinals. While the Spaniard subsequently withdrew from the Italian Open to help with his recovery, it mattered little as he secured his first title at the French Open a few weeks later.