Over the last two weekends, Alcaraz has won the Monte Carlo Masters and lost in the Barcelona Open final, where he needed treatment on his upper right leg on Sunday.
“I’m confident it won’t affect me in Madrid,” he said. “That’s what happens when you play so many matches and have so few days to rest. It’s so demanding, and you have to give 100% every day. Having played a tournament like Monte Carlo and arriving in Barcelona with few days to adapt is really tough.”
Alcaraz said fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal, a five-time winner in Madrid, wrote to him after the Barcelona final to encourage him and say he hoped he wasn’t injured.
“I bow at the feet of Rafa because of what he did week after week,” Alcaraz said. “You have to respect that.”
Alexander Zverev, No. 2 in the world after winning in Munich at the weekend, was the top seed in Madrid and Taylor Fritz was the third seed. Defending champion Andrey Rublev was the seventh seed.
