“I was scared of making it worse” - Carlos Alcaraz on his decision to withdraw from 2022 Paris Masters

Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Paris Masters during his clash against Holger Rune due to an abdominal strain on Friday.

The World No. 1 lost the opening set of his quarterfinal 3-6 before making a comeback and forcing a tie-break in the second set, where he was trailing 1-3 before deciding that he couldn’t continue the match while being injured.

The Spaniard later took to social media to congratulate his opponent and added that he withdrew as a precaution.

“Holger was better today and deserved to win! It was difficult to withdraw, but I was scared of making it worse. Health comes first!” Alcaraz tweeted.

Rune was quick to thank his childhood doubles partner for the kind words and wished him the best.

“Thank you man. Wish you the best always,” wrote Holger Rune.

In his post-match press conference, Alcaraz elaborated on the reasons for his withdrawal.

“Something wrong on the abdominal. Yeah, at the end of the set, it was wrong. It was getting wrong, and yeah, I preferred to retire and see it, and take care about it," Carlos Alcaraz said.

He admitted that he struggled with his forehand and that it felt better to retire than continue playing.

“I cannot stretch. I mean, I couldn't serve well. I couldn't hit the forehand well. Playing like that with some problems and some things in my mind, it's better to retire,” he added.

With the youngster set to compete in the ATP Finals next, he stated that he hopes to recover in time for the year-ending championships.

“Well, I have the Nitto Finals. Right now I have some test on how it's gonna be before Turin, but right now I'm focused to try to get better in the abdominal and trying to be at the 100% in Turin,” he said.

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“It's just a number, it's just a ranking” – Carlos Alcaraz on being World No. 1

Carlos Alcaraz pictured during a press conference at the 2022 Paris Masters.

Carlos Alcaraz shared his thoughts on what it's like to be the World No. 1 in the post-match press conference at the Paris Masters. While he admitted that it felt amazing, he claimed that it was just a number and that it doesn’t guarantee any wins.

"It's a great feeling, you know, to let's say in a little part to feel the best player in the world. On this, it's a number. For me, it's just a number. It's just a ranking. Obviously it doesn't mean that you're gonna win every match, every tournament. You know, every players can beat you. I see like that, you know, right now," he said.

"I just feel I can lose every match, and that's the most important thing. You have to play your best match in every match or at least you have to try to play the best level in every match. That's what I see in that moment right now," he added.