Carlos Alcaraz is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a right wrist injury in Barcelona.
The Spaniard initially withdrew from Barcelona and the Madrid Open with a view to competing in the Italian Open and Roland Garros.
However, the injury has proven to be more severe than initially expected, and Alcaraz has now been forced to withdraw from the events in Rome and Paris.
Can anyone now stop Jannik Sinner from winning Roland Garros after Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal?
If yes, who?
The Spaniard’s injury has prompted a wave of empathetic responses, including from Coco Gauff and Casper Ruud.
Alcaraz is currently expected to return to competitive play during the grass-court swing, which will take place following the conclusion of Roland Garros.
However, one Spanish former world number two has expressed doubt regarding Alcaraz’s Wimbledon availability.
Alex Corretja is unsure whether Carlos Alcaraz will play Wimbledon
“Look, maximum patience, ” Corretja [pictured below] said on Spanish radio show El Laguera.
“Right now, we need to focus on the day-to-day, letting that tendon recover as best as possible, and not setting a specific date.
“Because it seems to me that after a month and a half or so, when he might be out of competition, we’ll see when he can start training again. Starting during the grass court season.
“I don’t know if that will be the easiest thing, because sometimes you make bad movements there.
Carlos Alcaraz’s projected ATP schedule
- Italian Open: WITHDRAWN
- Roland Garros: WITHDRAWN
- Queen’s Club Championships: defending 500 ATP ranking points after winning the 2025 title
- Wimbledon: defending 1,300 ATP ranking points after reaching the 2025 final
“You get hit with wide serves, and it can mess up your wrist, so I’m not sure he’ll be able to make it to Wimbledon.
“I have no idea how the recovery is going. I’m just hoping he’ll be back as soon as possible, like everyone else, but right now I’d think of it as saying: ‘hey, let’s see what happens.’
How worried are you about Carlos Alcaraz’s injury?
Carlos Alcaraz will miss Rome and Roland Garros…
“And they’re, well, I think they’re sticking to the timeline they consider prudent.
“Look, saying he’s out of Roland Garros beforehand means they need to heal the injury calmly. Feli [Feliciano Lopez] was talking earlier about composure, well, more composure than ever, and above all, don’t pressure him about when he’s going to come back.
“Let him come back when he feels ready.”
Feliciano Lopez suffered the same injury as Alcaraz
Feliciano Lopez, a three-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist, is the current Madrid Open Tournament Director.
The Spaniard recently revealed that he suffered the same injury as Alcaraz while competing on the ATP Tour.
Lopez once again expressed this point on El Laguera, noting the importance of a healthy wrist to tennis players.
“Manu [host], in the end, I had a practically identical injury, and it’s a difficult issue because the wrist has many components, many small bones, tendons,” the Spaniard said.
“Besides, it’s a part of the body that a tennis player needs, not just 100%, but 200%, because everything is done with the wrist.
“There are a number of movements a tennis player makes with their wrist, and the moment your wrist isn’t at 100%, and it’s at 80%, it’s a much bigger problem than if that happens in another part of the body, which you can solve more easily.
Which of these players have concerned you the most in Madrid?
Coco Gauff, Alex de Minaur, Iga Swiatek and Ben Shelton all suffered early exits in Spain 😬
“So, what I think is that they need to be very calm. And I think Carlos, when he made those statements at the Laureus awards ceremony, said, ‘I’m in no hurry.’
“The important thing for me is to recover my wrist. I think he’s aware that it’s a relatively serious injury and that Carlos is also at an age where he shouldn’t be rushing things.”
Carlos Alcaraz is set to lose a significant chunk of his ATP ranking points
Having won the Italian Open and Roland Garros last year, Carlos Alcaraz is set to lose 3,000 ranking points following his withdrawal from this year’s events.
However, the Spaniard is guaranteed to not lose his world number two ranking by the end of the clay-court swing.
- Jannik Sinner: 13,350
- Carlos Alcaraz: 12,960
- Alexander Zverev: 5,255
- Novak Djokovic: 4,710
- Felix Auger-Aliassime: 4,100
This is because he is over 7,000 points ahead of Alexander Zverev in the world number three spot.
However, were Alcaraz to miss a portion of the grass-court swing, his world number two spot could be in jeopardy.
