Home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open on Wednesday because of muscle injuries, saying he didn’t want to risk making things worse ahead of the French Open.
The third-ranked Spaniard blamed his injuries on the “really tight” schedule that is part of the “demanding sport” of tennis.
He said he has not fully recovered from the upper leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final Sunday. He also said he has a left leg injury.
Alcaraz said he did “everything possible to play” but had to make the “tough decision” to withdraw after listening to his body and talking to doctors.
“I couldn’t practice the entire week and found out I had hamstring and groin injuries. I needed to listen to my body and make the right decision,” Alcaraz told reporters. “On Monday I’ll have more medical tests, and after that, we will have a better idea on how long I’ll be out.”
Alcaraz is a two-time champion in Madrid, having won in 2022 and 2023. He was the second seed this week and in the same half of the draw as Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz needed treatment on his leg during his straight-sets loss to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final.
Alcaraz, who will turn 22 on May 5, won in Monte Carlo to start his clay-court campaign and was on a nine-match winning streak until the Barcelona final. He complained of having to play “so many matches and have so few days to rest.”
“Madrid is one of the special tournaments for me. It’s a tournament that I enjoy, I get to play in front of my fans, it’s one of the first tournaments I attended when I was a kid,” Alcaraz said. “These types of decisions are not easy to make, but sometimes you have to think about your health and about what is important. A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. If I play here, I could make the injuries worse and stop for several months and that’s not worth it.”
He said the injuries should not be a problem heading into the French Open next month, where he is the defending champion. He won the Roland Garros final against Alexander Zverev, who leapfrogged the Spaniard to No. 2 in the world after winning in Munich last week.
“I’m not really worried about it,” Alcaraz said. “I believe it’s going to take one week, one week and a half, two weeks maximum, but I won’t have doubts about coming back and moving 100% again.”
The French Open main draw begins May 25, and Alcaraz said it was a possibility that he plays in the Italian Open starting May 7.
Alcaraz vowed to “come back stronger” but complained of the tennis schedule.
“Tennis is really a demanding sport,” he said. “Playing week after week, so many matches in a row, and you have to heal your body sometimes and take difficult decisions.”
A four-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz has a 24-5 record this year. In addition to Monte Carlo, he also won in Rotterdam on hard court in February.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Source link
