A wrist injury has left World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz defenceless. The Spaniard will not defend his French Open title at this year’s tournament after tests revealed he would not recover in time from a lingering right wrist injury.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz had won the 2025 French Open by beating World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in a come-from-behind five-set victory in a marathon contest that lasted five hours and 29 minutes.
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On Friday, Alcaraz confirmed that the injury will force him to miss the Italian Open in Rome followed by the clay-court major in Paris. “After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing to do is to be cautious and not participate in Rome or Roland-Garros as we wait to evaluate the progress so we can decide when to return to the court,” Alcaraz said in a post on Instagram.
This is a difficult time for me: Alcaraz
“This is a difficult time for me, but I am sure we will come out of it stronger,” he said in the social media post.
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Alcaraz’s participation at the May 24 to June 7 French Open had been in doubt after the Spaniard also withdrew from the Barcelona Open and skipped the Madrid Open, the tune-up events to the clay-court major.
This week, as he was named the Sportsman of the Year at the 2026 Laureus Awards, Alcaraz was spotted at the gala, wearing a brace on his right wrist. Alcaraz, the seven-time Grand Slam champion, received treatment on his right wrist and forearm during a first-round victory at the Barcelona Open on April 14.
The following day, his clay-court season ended as he pulled out of the tournament, the first of the many he would go on to miss. The 2026 French Open will be only the second Grand Slam Alcaraz will miss, having pulled out of the 2023 Australian Open with a right hamstring injury.
