Alcaraz skips Madrid
- Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the 2026 Madrid Open after suffering a wrist injury during the Barcelona Open. - The decision now casts doubt on his preparation for Roland Garros, where he's chasing a third straight title. - Multiple outlets and social posts reported the withdrawal and Paris readiness concerns, merging official reports with on‑court sightings (firstpost.com, x.com)
Carlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the Madrid Open with a wrist injury, leaving Spain’s biggest clay-court event without its home star. (atptour.com) The ATP said on April 17 that Alcaraz, ranked No. 2, would miss the Mutua Madrid Open because of the same wrist problem that forced him out of Barcelona earlier that week. Madrid is an ATP Masters 1000 event and one of the key stops before Roland Garros. (atptour.com) Alcaraz had already withdrawn from the Barcelona Open on April 15 after tests on his right wrist. He had beaten Otto Virtanen in his opening match on April 14 before the injury stopped his run. (olympics.com) He said in Barcelona that he needed to go home, start recovery with his team and doctors, and try to get healthy “as quickly as possible” for upcoming tournaments. In Madrid, he said he needed to “listen to my body” so the injury would not affect him later. (atptour.com, atptour.com) The timing points straight at Paris. Roland Garros is scheduled for May 18 to June 7, and Alcaraz arrives there as the two-time defending champion after winning the title in 2024 and 2025. (rolandgarros.com, usopen.org) Skipping Madrid also removes one of his last major tune-ups on clay. He had opened the clay season in Monte Carlo earlier this month, but Barcelona and Madrid were the two home events around which much of his spring schedule was built. (olympics.com, olympics.com) The withdrawal is his second straight absence from Madrid. Tennis.com reported that Alcaraz will miss his home Masters 1000 event for the second year in a row, a sharp break in a tournament that has been central to his rise in Spain. (tennis.com) What comes next depends on the wrist tests and recovery timeline. Reuters, via syndicated reports, said this week’s examinations would help determine whether Alcaraz can start his French Open title defense next month. (sports.yahoo.com) For now, the clearest fact is the one Madrid fans got first: Alcaraz is out, and the countdown to Paris is now a medical one. (atptour.com, sports.yahoo.com)
