Johnson on Alcaraz's decision to play in Rotterdam: "Maybe he's still mentally scarred after his ankle injury in Rio".

Carlos Alcaraz has decided to play in Rotterdam for the first time in his career.

Accustomed to playing the South American clay-court tour since his debut on the ATP Tour, the 21-year-old Spaniard had confirmed some time ago that he would be present at the indoor hard-court tournament in the Netherlands.

Alcaraz, who has struggled with these conditions in recent years, has qualified for the final of this ATP 500, where he will play De Minaur.

In the Nothing Major Podcast, former American pro Steve Johnson analyzed the choice of this year's four-time Grand Slam winner.

"He doesn't choose his tournaments because he thinks he'll be better on this or that surface, as most of us would.

We know he can win any tournament, in any country and on any surface.

He may still have that mental scar from his ankle injury in Rio during the South American tour last year.

He probably still had that event on his mind when validating his schedule and didn't want to take the risk of re-injuring himself.

He chose his schedule for this season a year ago, so it's not as if he decided to go to Rotterdam when the entry deadline passed a few weeks ago", Johnson assured us.