On Thursday, the French Open draw for this year was unveiled. On Sunday on Philippe-Chatrier, third-seeded Alcaraz will take on American lucky loser J.J. Wolf. It will be their first meeting on the Tour in their careers.

The Spaniard is undoubtedly the favorite to win the match, but his tournament preparation has been agonizing and far from ideal. Alcaraz participated in one warm-up competition, held in Madrid, Spain, where he lost the final eight to Andrey Rublev.

He withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters at the beginning of the clay-court swing in Monaco due to a forearm issue. Due to the same setback, he did not play in Barcelona.

Following Marid, Alcaraz took preventative steps, which included skipping the Italian Open.Additionally, he refrained from using a tennis racquet for exactly two weeks. He usually used shadow swings as part of his workout regimen to maintain the strength of his lower body.

With Roland Garros drawing near, it was worrisome that he hadn’t been playing any competitive matches. That was before he trained last week while still sporting a protective arm sleeve, holding a racket in his hand.

Alcaraz said at his pre-tournament news conference on Sunday before his opening match that he still doesn’t know the exact nature of his forearm problem since he always forgets what is said to him. Additionally, he disclosed that he is not experiencing any pain when playing and resists the urge to hit the forehand hard.

“I’m a little nervous about making every forehand hit perfect. I pay attention to the physicians and my team when they explain what I have and how to take care of it, but I tend to forget.”

Alcaraz, as stated by the AP

“All I recall is that they assured me that it wouldn’t take too long and that it wouldn’t be serious. But here we are, getting better. When I walk onto the court after practice, I don’t feel any soreness. However, even while I’m hitting forehands, I’m still considering it.”