ADVERTISEMENT
Steve Johnson thinks Carlos Alcaraz's decision to ditch the Golden Swing for the hard tournaments may have been influenced by the injury he sustained in Rio de Janeiro last year.
In his first couple of seasons on the Tour, the Spaniard preferred to go to South America after the Australian Open and play a couple of clay tournaments.
But this year, the world No. 3 is playing in Rotterdam for the first time in his career and he is also slated to play in Doha, which starts on February 17th.
Last year, Alcaraz was upset by Nicolas Jarry in the Buenos Aires semifinal before rolling his ankle and suffering an injury right at the start of his Rio de Janeiro opener against Thiago Monteiro.
That injury nearly ruined the Netflix Slam and the 21-year-old Las Vegas exhibition that was planned for March 3rd.
ADVERTISEMENT
Johnson on Alcaraz deciding against playing clay events in February
Maybe he has a little mental scar tissue. He did roll his ankle last year, so maybe thats on his mind, and he doesnt want to get hurt again, the former four-time ATP champion said on the Nothing Major Podcast.
Thatd be a silly reason not to go, but for him, it just doesnt matter.
After sharing his thoughts on the matter, Johnson also noted that Alcaraz's decision not to play the Golden Swing this year was made months earlier.
"He picked his schedule a year ago when these tournaments negotiate appearance fees, so its not like he chose to go to Rotterdam six weeks ago when the deadline was up, the former American tennis player explained.
This was planned long beforehe had already decided to do this swing instead of the Golden Swing in South America.
ADVERTISEMENT
Meanwhile, Alcaraz enjoyed an outstanding week in Rotterdam as he ended up winning the title after beating Alex de Minaur in the final.
