Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal from next month’s Roland Garros event has unsurprisingly sent shockwaves throughout the sporting world.
After all, one of tennis’ biggest tournaments has lost arguably its biggest star, forced out of contention due to a wrist injury picked up in Barcelona a few weeks ago.
It marks a disappointing end to the clay-court season for the Spaniard, who historically has played some of his best tennis on this surface.
Alas, sport waits for nobody, and according to Andrea Petkovic, the Spanish fans in Madrid wasted no time at all in heralding their new hometown hero.
Madrid Open fans’ fickle reaction to Carlos Alcaraz’s Roland Garros withdrawal
Speaking on Tennis Channel, it was CoCo Vandweghe who began the analysis of Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Roland Garros.
She praised what must have been an excruciatingly tough decision, claiming: “He’s playing the long game out here.”
How worried are you about Carlos Alcaraz’s injury?
Carlos Alcaraz will miss Rome and Roland Garros…
Vandweghe continued: “We know that Carlos Alcaraz and also Jannik Sinner, they’re chasing basically the greatest of all time in Roger Federer, in Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
“We see the post that he came out with this morning. I woke up to it, woke up to the news, and it is tough.
“You want to see the defending champions be able to contend for their title again. You want to see them be able to go up against the best in the world, the three out of five, the biggest show in our sports is the Grand Slam, so it’s tough to see world number one not be able to defend his title.”
Then asked if she thought Carlos Alcaraz had made a smart decision, she added: “I think it’s absolutely the smart thing to do. We’ve seen so many athletes, not only just tennis players, come back too soon, and that’s not what you want when it comes to your sport.”
Moving court-side to get Andrea Petkovic’s thoughts, she actually offered an insight into how the Spanish fans in Madrid are feeling after this news circulated around the grounds.
It was not the seismic shift one might have expected, as she revealed: “I will say, though, people and tennis fans move on really quickly.
“The moment Rafael Jodar beat Alex De Minaur, it was like Carlos Alcaraz never existed in the Spanish fans ‘ minds, just… It’s true!
“It’s a terrible sport. We are terrible people, but this is unfortunately the world of capitalism.”
Rafa Nadal has since sent a message to Alcaraz on social media, offering his condolences during this hard time.
Rafa Jodar’s red-hot form continues in Madrid
There is understandable cause for optimism among Spanish tennis fans with Rafa Jodar, who has enjoyed an electric emergence onto the ATP Tour of late.
Having been ranked outside the top 600 as recently as last year, it’s incredible to think that he now sits 36th in the live rankings.
Can anyone now stop Jannik Sinner from winning Roland Garros after Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal?
If yes, who?
That is mainly thanks to the sensational last month the 19-year-old has enjoyed, having won a title in Marrakesh, reached the semi-finals in Barcelona, and now cruised into the third round of the Madrid Open, beating Alex De Minaur most recently.
Excitement is justifiable, and it seems that as one Spaniard has been ruled out of contention in cruel fashion, another star has been born ready to take his place for now.
