Carlos Alcaraz is easily one of the world’s brightest young talents and before entering his 20s, the youngster already has laid hands on a grand slam trophy. However, since completing that famous US Open triumph last year, he has been struggling with a few injuries and the most recent one being a leg injury that ruled him out of the Australian Open, where he could’ve been a challenge for the eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

He continues to recuperate from that injury but he did featured in the Rio Open which began last week, where he reached the final. Alcarez played down concerns about a fresh leg injury after reaching the final of the Rio Open on Saturday, saying it was normal for him to compete with some pain and he would be 100% ready to face Cameron Norrie.

Alcaraz also became the youngest player ever to top the ATP World Rankings at the age of 19 after claiming the U.S. Open title in September. Soon after, he suffered an abdominal issue at the Paris Masters in November and pulled out of last month’s Australian Open with a leg problem.

He twice needed treatment on his left leg in the second set of his semi-final against qualifier Nicolas Jarry, but sealed a 6-7(2) 7-5 6-0 victory to set up a rematch with Norrie after beating the Briton in last week’s Buenos Aires final. Find more about Tennis betting odds in Nextbet. 

”I don’t worry about that. It’s a tennis player’s life,” Alcaraz said of his leg issue. ”Playing with some pain is normal for a tennis player. Even more if we are playing win by win, no break for almost 14 days in a row. It’s normal. I’m going to take care of that and go into the final 100%.”

Novak Djokovic, who won his 22nd grand slam title in Melbourne after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, overtook Alcarez in the ATP rankings to take the top spot. Alcaraz, however, can close the gap on the Serbian with another title and the 19-year-old said he was proud of his level after winning an eighth match in 11 days on his comeback.