Alcaraz overcomes an awkward debut against Finn Virtanen at the Conde Godó

Barcelona (EFE).- Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz debuted with a victory at the Conde Godó Trophy, with a score of 6-4 and 6-2 against the Finnish player Otto Virtanen, who came from the qualifying round and put up more resistance than expected.

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It was an uncomfortable match for Alcaraz, who, unable to find his game rhythm, accumulated up to 32 unforced errors - a figure uncharacteristic of him - and even had to request the assistance of the tournament physiotherapist for problems in his right wrist.

Alcaraz: "It's complicated to get good feelings at the beginning"

Alcaraz, world number two, downplayed his uncomfortable debut at the Conde de Godó Trophy against the Finnish Otto Virtanen (6-4 and 6-2), and pointed out that it is «complicated» to find good sensations with hardly any time to adapt.

«It has cost a little, it is complicated to get good sensations at the beginning. The only contact has been an hour this morning. It has cost me to find the rhythm, but I have managed to adapt to the conditions of Barcelona and I have ended up playing at a good level», expressed the tennis player from Murcia in the press room of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899.

Alcaraz: «The battle for number one is an extra motivation to win in Barcelona»

After falling last Sunday in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000 against the Italian Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz acknowledged that he has had "little time" to rest between tournaments and that having completed only one training session on the Barcelona clay has prevented him from showing his "best version".

Right Wrist Discomfort

The tennis player from El Palmar also thanked the support of the public, who filled the Rafael Nadal court, and avoided specifying the extent of the discomfort in his right wrist that forced him to request the assistance of the physiotherapist when he was dominating the first set 5-4.

"Having little rest time between one tournament and another, the clay court, one of the most demanding surfaces physically, usually takes its toll. It is normal for small discomforts to appear. We will assess it with the physiotherapist to see how it evolves, although we trust that it is nothing important," he added.

Likewise, the champion of Godó in 2022 and 2023 wanted to reassure his followers by assuring that these are discomforts that he had already suffered previously, "without further consequence," and showed his confidence that they will not prevent him from arriving in full condition to his next commitment, on Thursday, against the Czech Tomas Machac, in the round of 16.