Carlos Alcaraz injured his wrist at the Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard subsequently withdrew from the tournament and the upcoming Madrid Open.
Will you still be watching the Madrid Open?
Two BIG withdrawals…
Speaking at the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards, Alcaraz cast doubt over his French Open appearance, describing his next test as ‘crucial’.
Former Wimbledon semi-finalist John Isner has now shared his thoughts on Alcaraz’s injury woes.
John Isner says Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist injury is ‘a big cause for concern’
During the latest episode of ‘Nothing Major‘, Isner said the following.
“I think this is a big cause for concern. It’s a right wrist injury!” he said.
“You can’t practice right now.
“He is out of Madrid, there is a decent chance he could miss Rome as well, you don’t want to mess around with a wrist injury.
“I think this is a huge deal.”
Isner delivered his verdict on Alcaraz’s French Open chances.
“It doesn’t mean he can’t win Roland Garros because he’s that supremely talented, but this is a huge deal,” he said.
“He has to come back from this injury and have full faith that his wrist is going to hold up.
“In my mind, this is a huge deal and a big issue.
“Feli Lopez, the Madrid tournament director, has said that it could be more serious than anyone may know.”
During a recent interview, Feliciano Lopez said that he once suffered the same injury as Alcaraz, and was out for two months.
If Alcaraz wants to defend his French Open title, he cannot afford a two-month injury lay-off…
Carlos Alcaraz faces a serious ranking drop with his wrist injury
Alcaraz enjoyed an excellent clay-court campaign in 2025.
The Spaniard won his first Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open titles, defended his French Open crown and reached the final of the Barcelona Open.
In doing so, he picked up 4,330 ranking points.
Points Carlos Alcaraz earned on clay in 2025
- Monte Carlo Masters (Champion) – 1,000 points
- Barcelona Open (Finalist) – 330 points
- Italian Open (Champion) – 1,000 points
- French Open (Champion) – 2,000 points
- Total – 4,330 points
He hasn’t enjoyed the same success in 2026 and has so far accumulated fewer than 1,000 points.
Points Carlos Alcaraz has earned on clay in 2026
- Monte Carlo Masters (Finalist) – 650 points
- Barcelona Open (Second round) – 50 points
- Total – 700 points
Even if Alcaraz were to win the Italian Open and French Open, which at this stage seems highly unlikely, he would finish the clay-court season with 630 points fewer than he did last year.
That’s bad news in the race for world number one.
His great rival, Jannik Sinner, took the top spot after winning the Monte Carlo Masters and is likely to remain world number one for the foreseeable future.
Live ATP Rankings
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 1 | Jannik Sinner | Italy | 13,360 |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | Spain | 12,960 |
| 3 | Alexander Zverev | Germany | 5,165 |
| 4 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 4,700 |
| 5 | Ben Shelton | USA | 4,030 |
If Alcaraz were to miss the Italian Open and the French Open, he would fall below 10,000 points.
Assuming Sinner matches or improves upon his efforts from a year ago (Missed Madrid and reached the finals of Rome and Roland Garros), he could open up a 4,000+ point gap to Alcaraz.
A gap that would guarantee him the world number-one ranking through the grass-court season.
Sinner sits directly above Alcaraz in the all-time weeks at number-one table, but will now surely have his sights set on the top-10.
All-time weeks at world number one (ATP singles)
- 1. Novak Djokovic – 428 weeks
- 2. Roger Federer – 310 weeks
- 3. Pete Sampras – 286 weeks
- 4. Ivan Lendl – 270 weeks
- 5. Jimmy Connors – 268 weeks
- 6. Rafael Nadal – 209 weeks
- 7. John McEnroe – 170 weeks
- 8. Bjorn Borg – 109 weeks
- 9. Andre Agassi – 101 weeks
- 10. Lleyton Hewitt – 80 weeks
- 11. Stefan Edberg – 72 weeks
- 12. Jannik Sinner – 68 weeks
- 13. Carlos Alcaraz – 66 weeks
- 14. Jim Courier – 58 weeks
- 15. Gustavo Kuerten – 43 weeks
Only time will tell what the future holds for Alcaraz and Sinner.
The Italian will begin his Madrid Open campaign later this week, taking on either a qualifier or a lucky loser.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, will try to recover in time for the Italian Open, which begins on Tuesday, May 5.
If he is unable to do so, he will turn his attention to the French Open, which starts on Sunday, May 24.
