The Spanish tennis player Pablo Carreño has acknowledged that thinking about the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has been what has allowed him to “draw mental strength” to return to competition after a year and a half of absence due to elbow surgery, and has assured that he will try to get “a medal” to add to the bronze achieved in Tokyo 2020. “The greatest hope I have is to play in the Olympic Games in Paris. There is very little left, less than two months, but after having won the medal three years, the objective when it comes to gaining mental strength to return to competitions has been to think about the Olympic Games,” he said in an interview before debuting in the Perugia (Italy) tournament, ATP Challenger 125 organized by MEF Tennis Events. The Asturian, who will make his debut in the transalpine competition against the local Samuel Vincent Ruggeri, reiterated his desire to be able to repeat the medal at the Paris event. “My idea is to compete in these tournaments to try to get a medal in Paris. I know I don’t have much time to reach a good level of tennis, but I will do everything possible to arrive prepared for this event,” he said. In another vein, Carreño talked about how he feels physically. “When you get injured you never know how long it will take you to get back to the best possible level, but I certainly hadn’t thought about stopping for a year and a half. Now I feel good and the elbow didn’t bother me after the first round at Roland Garros either, but I still have a little scared when I hit the ball and I have to find my rhythm again,” he noted. Finally, he was happy to be able to return to Perugia. “I am happy to have returned to this city, where I won the first edition of the Challenger in 2015 against Matteo Viola. I remember that I had my father and some special guests to support me and I experienced great emotions,” he concluded.
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