Carlos Alcaraz has abandoned his title defense plans at the 2026 Italian Open and the French Open. The Spaniard has been battling a wrist injury he picked up during his opening match at the Barcelona Open last week.
Alcaraz was recently spotted wearing a right arm splint. He also noted during his Laureus World Sports Awards appearance that his clay schedule was relying heavily on the results from his medical tests.
Carlos Alcaraz’s Message After Italian Open, French Open Withdrawals
Alcaraz has cut short his clay season after playing just six matches. He shared the “difficult” news on Instagram, pointing out a cautious approach.
“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. This is a difficult time for me, but I am sure we will come out of it stronger,” he said.
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His brief clay run featured a final at the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he was beaten by Jannik Sinner, and a first-match win at the Barcelona Open, where he hurt himself. Ironically, this year the 22-year-old had assured that he was looking forward to playing all tournaments he had entered on the surface – the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open, the Madrid Open, the Italian Open, and finally the French Open.
After the injury, however, he abandoned the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona, and just days later confirmed his absence at the Masters 1000 event in Madrid. During his appearance at the Laureus World Sports Award, the Sportsman of the Year winner said that he didn’t want to jeopardize his career over the injury.
“We have a very long career ahead, many years to come; forcing myself in this Roland-Garros (French Open) could harm me a lot for the future. So as I said, we’ll see how things go in the test and then we’ll decide based on that,” he had said to the press.
MORE:Carlos Alcaraz Alarms Tennis World As He Shows Up in an Arm Cast After Wrist Injury
As the reigning champion at both tournaments, Alcaraz was defending a staggering 3,000 points. The withdrawals thus come as a huge blow. It remains to be seen when the Spaniard resumes his 2026 campaign.
