• Carlos Alcaraz still injured

    From Scall5@nospam@home.net to rec.sport.tennis on Tue Aug 4 19:35:28 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    Out of Cincy. I am getting concerned. But then I am only a bystander.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5

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  • From Whisper@Whisper999@ozemail.com to rec.sport.tennis on Thu Aug 6 00:35:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    On 5/08/2026 10:35 am, Scall5 wrote:
    Out of Cincy. I am getting concerned. But then I am only a bystander.


    Catherine Whitaker asked him in January if he'd rather win AO and none
    of the other slams this year to complete the career slam - he smiled and
    said yes he'd take it. She jinxed him.

    If he comes back and wins AO again as his next slam he'll have 2 of
    each, double career slam. Only Novak has 3. He'll still be only 23.

    Carlos is looking at the long game, doesn't want to take any chances of
    a career ending/limiting injury. It's frustrating for him and fans, but
    it's better to have him playing sporadically for next 10+ years hitting
    his max capacity than suffering similar fate to Potro/Thiem. He looks
    likely to become the richest player ever with his endorsements, but
    needs to remain healthy enough to win slams regularly for another decade
    or so. He's going to have to take a Sampras type approach - save himself
    and peak for slams - rather than Djokovic who played and won everything forever.

    He looks amazing hitting his forehand in recent practice, but I'd guess
    he experienced pain so being extra cautious. The fact he hasn't pulled
    out of USO just yet tells me he really wants to give it a go if the pain
    isn't too bad. I don't see him winning USO, he'll either pull out before
    it starts or enter and pull out of one of the early rounds.


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  • From kalevi@kalevi@kolttonen.fi (Kalevi Kolttonen) to rec.sport.tennis on Wed Aug 5 18:02:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    Scall5 <nospam@home.net> wrote:
    Out of Cincy. I am getting concerned. But then I am only a bystander.

    It is part of the total package to stay uninjured and healthy if
    you want to be a great champion. Injuries are signs of weakness
    in the body (e.g. Alcaraz, Murray) or results of an error (Zverev
    injured his ankle against Nadal in Roland Garros, cannot remember
    the year, he only has himself to blame).

    Thus, I have zero empathy towards Alcaraz or anyone who gets injured.

    However, I have absolutely nothing against Alcaraz and I am not happy
    about his injury. But it is what it is: If your body cannot stand the
    heat, it is your loss. You can rest, take the necessary steps to heal,
    and maybe even alter your hitting technique to reduce the strain on
    your wrist... But changing your technique might take lots of time,
    make you a worse player, or not even work at all since you have hit
    the same way for 20+ years.

    Alcaraz has been out of action for some time now and he missed Roland
    Garros and Wimbledon. Now that he will miss Cincinnati, his preparation
    for the potential US Open entrance is far from ideal. He is super
    talented, yes, but the lack of real on-court experience could mean his performance in US Open suffers.

    I believe he can survive the early rounds if his wrist feels okay,
    but what about tougher matches deeper in the tournament? I dislike
    making predictions, but thinking ahead Alcaraz vs Sinner, I believe
    Sinner must be the favourite to win. Apart from his heat stroke in
    Roland Garros, he has played a mighty strong season.

    br,
    KK
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  • From kalevi@kalevi@kolttonen.fi (Kalevi Kolttonen) to rec.sport.tennis on Wed Aug 5 18:19:07 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    Kalevi Kolttonen <kalevi@kolttonen.fi> wrote:
    Thus, I have zero empathy towards Alcaraz or anyone who gets injured.

    What about Jack Draper? A very talented Brit lefty who achieved the
    amazing ranking of #4 but got injured almost right after that. I
    am not sure about the nature of his injury but I know it is his
    left arm that is causing problems. Maybe the wrist, maybe something
    else, does anyone know?

    Draper just played in Canada ATP1000 but lost to Terence Atmane in
    three sets. Jack's ranking has really gone down and is lower
    than 100 at the moment. Only time will tell whether he can
    overcome his injury and return to the Top 10.

    br,
    KK
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  • From Sawfish@sawfish666@gmail.com to rec.sport.tennis on Wed Aug 5 12:12:24 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    On 8/5/26 11:02 AM, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:
    Scall5 <nospam@home.net> wrote:
    Out of Cincy. I am getting concerned. But then I am only a bystander.

    It is part of the total package to stay uninjured and healthy if
    you want to be a great champion. Injuries are signs of weakness
    in the body (e.g. Alcaraz, Murray) or results of an error (Zverev
    injured his ankle against Nadal in Roland Garros, cannot remember
    the year, he only has himself to blame).

    Thus, I have zero empathy towards Alcaraz or anyone who gets injured.

    However, I have absolutely nothing against Alcaraz and I am not happy
    about his injury. But it is what it is: If your body cannot stand the
    heat, it is your loss. You can rest, take the necessary steps to heal,
    and maybe even alter your hitting technique to reduce the strain on
    your wrist... But changing your technique might take lots of time,
    make you a worse player, or not even work at all since you have hit
    the same way for 20+ years.

    Alcaraz has been out of action for some time now and he missed Roland
    Garros and Wimbledon. Now that he will miss Cincinnati, his preparation
    for the potential US Open entrance is far from ideal. He is super
    talented, yes, but the lack of real on-court experience could mean his performance in US Open suffers.

    I believe he can survive the early rounds if his wrist feels okay,
    but what about tougher matches deeper in the tournament? I dislike
    making predictions, but thinking ahead Alcaraz vs Sinner, I believe
    Sinner must be the favourite to win. Apart from his heat stroke in
    Roland Garros, he has played a mighty strong season.

    br,
    KK

    Does anyone else feel that a part of Alcaraz's current problems may be a
    lack of deep motivation?

    That in some sense he achieved a lot early, and weighing up the
    necessary work to stay in form, and the time it robs from social
    activities, he is somewhat satisfied with his accomplishments at the
    same time that he has more money and increased access to the good life?
    --
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Interviewer: "Mr. Sawfish, do you agree that ignorance and apathy are
    the causes of our most serious social ills?"

    Sawfish: "I don't know, and I don't care."

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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  • From kalevi@kalevi@kolttonen.fi (Kalevi Kolttonen) to rec.sport.tennis on Wed Aug 5 20:45:51 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    Sawfish <sawfish666@gmail.com> wrote:
    Does anyone else feel that a part of Alcaraz's current problems may be a lack of deep motivation?

    To be honest, I do not see a connection between potential
    mental issues and an injured wrist. I think Carlos is motivated
    and he has said he wants to be the greatest of all time - meaning
    he wants to exceed Djoker's 24 slams.

    That in some sense he achieved a lot early, and weighing up the
    necessary work to stay in form, and the time it robs from social
    activities, he is somewhat satisfied with his accomplishments at the
    same time that he has more money and increased access to the good life?

    It is clear that money will never be an issue for him. He has
    earned millions and millions. I believe he will come back strong
    *if* his wrist problems can be fixed. If the wrist problem persists,
    then it is possible that his entire career is finished.

    It happened to Thiem, it happened to Del Potro earlier. Andy
    Murray also could have achieved much more if his hip had been
    better.

    br,
    KK
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  • From Scall5@nospam@home.net to rec.sport.tennis on Wed Aug 5 19:03:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    On 8/5/2026 9:35 AM, Whisper wrote:
    On 5/08/2026 10:35 am, Scall5 wrote:
    Out of Cincy. I am getting concerned. But then I am only a bystander.


    Catherine Whitaker asked him in January if he'd rather win AO and none
    of the other slams this year to complete the career slam - he smiled and said yes he'd take it.-a She jinxed him.

    If he comes back and wins AO again as his next slam he'll have 2 of
    each, double career slam.-a Only Novak has 3. He'll still be only 23.

    Yeah, that would be amazing.

    Carlos is looking at the long game, doesn't want to take any chances of
    a career ending/limiting injury.-a It's frustrating for him and fans, but it's better to have him playing sporadically for next 10+ years hitting
    his max capacity than suffering similar fate to Potro/Thiem.-a He looks likely to become the richest player ever with his endorsements, but
    needs to remain healthy enough to win slams regularly for another decade
    or so. He's going to have to take a Sampras type approach - save himself
    and peak for slams - rather than Djokovic who played and won everything forever.

    Looks like the ten-day Masters will really seal Djokovic's historical
    Masters domination of 40. The players are not happy.

    He looks amazing hitting his forehand in recent practice, but I'd guess
    he experienced pain so being extra cautious.-a The fact he hasn't pulled
    out of USO just yet tells me he really wants to give it a go if the pain isn't too bad. I don't see him winning USO, he'll either pull out before
    it starts or enter and pull out of one of the early rounds.

    I'm hoping he heals up permanently. Wish it would have been that way for
    Guga and ThiemrCogreatness lost.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5
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  • From Scall5@nospam@home.net to rec.sport.tennis on Wed Aug 5 19:08:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    On 8/5/2026 1:19 PM, Kalevi Kolttonen wrote:
    Kalevi Kolttonen <kalevi@kolttonen.fi> wrote:
    Thus, I have zero empathy towards Alcaraz or anyone who gets injured.

    What about Jack Draper? A very talented Brit lefty who achieved the
    amazing ranking of #4 but got injured almost right after that. I
    am not sure about the nature of his injury but I know it is his
    left arm that is causing problems. Maybe the wrist, maybe something
    else, does anyone know?

    CoPilot says "DraperrCOs chronic issue is: Bone bruising / stress reaction
    in the left arm, especially around the upper arm and shoulder chain.

    Remember, he is a right-handed person playing left-handed. Not natural.

    Draper just played in Canada ATP1000 but lost to Terence Atmane in
    three sets. Jack's ranking has really gone down and is lower
    than 100 at the moment. Only time will tell whether he can
    overcome his injury and return to the Top 10.

    br,
    KK

    Hope he comes back, great to watch when he's on.
    --
    ---------------
    Scall5
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  • From kalevi@kalevi@kolttonen.fi (Kalevi Kolttonen) to rec.sport.tennis on Thu Aug 6 17:48:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.sport.tennis

    Scall5 <nospam@home.net> wrote:
    Remember, he is a right-handed person playing left-handed. Not natural.

    Nadal was like that too.

    Guitarist Gary Moore was left-handed but played right-handed.

    Draper just played in Canada ATP1000 but lost to Terence Atmane in
    three sets. Jack's ranking has really gone down and is lower
    than 100 at the moment. Only time will tell whether he can
    overcome his injury and return to the Top 10.

    Hope he comes back, great to watch when he's on.

    Yeah, it would be a shame to lose him at this young age.

    br,
    KK
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