Carlos Alcaraz provides health update ahead of Rotterdam Open debut

The 21-year-old will play world No 84 Botic van de Zandschulp in his first match at the ATP 500 tournament on Tuesday evening.

The Spaniard world No 3 fell to a shocking straight-set loss to the 29-year-old Dutchman in the second round of the 2024 US Open.

In his only previous tournament this year, Alcaraz was beaten in four sets by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Speaking ahead of his appearance in Rotterdam, Alcaraz explained how a cold disrupted his preparations for the event.

"I spent a few days at home after Australia, but I got a cold," Alcaraz said. "I was struggling a little bit at home. I could only train for two days and then I had to rest until the cold got better.

"But spending time at home, it doesn't matter if you are sick, it is always great, having your family there. It allows you to be fresh mentally, to travel again."

Alcaraz wore a nasal strip during a practice session in Rotterdam on Sunday, which suggests he has not fully recovered from his illness.

The four-time Grand Slam champion also wore a nasal strip during two of his matches at the 2024 ATP Finals in November â” his previous indoor tournament â” having struggled with a cold.

After using the strip in his win over Andrey Rublev in Turin in November, Alcaraz said: "Today I was a different person. The band-aid helped me to open up and breathe a little better.

"I know Nico [Jarry] wears that thing on his nose. It helped me a lot. I could breathe much better. It's something I'm going to wear more often."

The World No 3 is the top seed in Rotterdam, while seventh-ranked Daniil Medvedev â” a Rotterdam champion in 2023 â” is the second seed.

Alex de Minaur, Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Arthur Fils and Hubert Hurkacz are the other seeded players. Jannik Sinner won the event in 2024, but he chose not to defend his title.

If Alcaraz overcomes van de Zandschulp, he could face an in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round. Auger-Aliassime has already won two tournaments in 2025, including his sixth career indoor title in Montpellier last week.

Alcaraz is seeking his maiden indoor hard-court title in Rotterdam as he is yet to reach a final at an indoor tournament.

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