MADRID — In a disappointing turn of events, Carlos Alcaraz will miss his chance to vie for a third consecutive French Open title due to a wrist injury on his right side.
On Friday, Alcaraz took to X to announce that he will also not be competing in the upcoming Italian Open in Rome, where he clinched the title last year.
Ranked No. 2, Alcaraz sustained his injury during a first-round match at the Barcelona Open earlier this month and was forced to withdraw the following day.
He also pulled out of this week’s Madrid Open and attended the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid on Monday with his arm in a sling. At the event, he was honored as the world sportsman of the year.
After undergoing further medical evaluations on Friday, Alcaraz confirmed that he will not be able to compete in Paris.
“Following today’s test results, we’ve concluded that it’s best to take a cautious approach by skipping Rome and Roland Garros,” he posted on X. “This is a challenging time for me, but I believe we’ll emerge stronger from this experience.”
Alcaraz began the year with an impressive victory over Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final, making him the youngest player to have captured all four major tennis titles.
Since then, he has won only one title—in Doha back in February—and will miss out on major clay-court victories. Earlier this month, he lost the Monte Carlo final to Jannik Sinner, resulting in relinquishing the No. 1 ranking to the Italian star.
Last year, Alcaraz triumphed over Sinner in the finals of both the Italian Open and the French Open, the latter of which featured a thrilling match where he saved three match points. He later faced Sinner again at Wimbledon, where he fell short, but claimed victory over him in the U.S. Open final.
The Italian Open is set to commence on May 5, followed by the French Open starting on May 18.
