Alcaraz quits Barcelona

Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Barcelona Open on April 15 after tests on his right wrist, ending his tournament a day after his opening win. (atptour.com) The 22-year-old Spaniard beat qualifier Otto Virtanen 6-4, 6-2 on April 14, but he needed treatment during the match and then withdrew before his scheduled second-round meeting with Tomáš Macháč. (skysports.com) Tournament organizers said the decision came after a Wednesday morning examination of his right wrist, and Macháč advanced straight to the quarter-finals. (barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com) Alcaraz had arrived in Barcelona just days after reaching the Monte-Carlo Masters final, where Jannik Sinner beat him on April 12 in a match that also decided who would hold the top spot in the ATP rankings. (atptour.com) Because he needed to win the Barcelona title to return to world No. 1, the withdrawal leaves Sinner on top and stops Alcaraz from making up the 390-point gap between them this week. (atptour.com) Barcelona matters beyond the ranking race because it is one of Alcaraz’s home clay events and part of the short run-up to the Madrid Open, the Italian Open and Roland-Garros. (espn.com) Alcaraz told reporters the pain began after a return in the Virtanen match and worsened as the night went on. He said the scan showed “an injury a bit more serious than everyone expected.” (skysports.com) The timing is especially awkward because Alcaraz has already played a heavy early clay schedule in 2026, posting a 22-3 record and winning titles at the Australian Open and in Doha before the Barcelona setback. (atptour.com) He has won Barcelona twice before, in 2022 and 2023, which made this week one of the more visible stops on his spring calendar. Instead, his clay season now shifts to recovery and to whether he can make Madrid later this month. (olympics.com)