Carlos Alcaraz pulls out of French Open after failing to recover from wrist injury

French Open: World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz won't defend his Roland Garros title after failing to recover from wrist injury. Last year, Alcaraz won the title after beating Jannik Sinner in a thrilling final at Philippe-Chatrier.

In Short

• Carlos Alcaraz sustained wrist injury at Barcelona Open
• Jannik Sinner will go into French Open as World No. 1
• Alcaraz also won't take part in Italian Open

Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the 2026 French Open after failing to recover from a wrist injury. The Spaniard underwent medical tests to assess his fitness for his title defence at Roland Garros before deciding to pull out. He had won the tournament last year, defeating Jannik Sinner in a gripping final that lasted five hours and 29 minutes.

Alcaraz sustained the injury during the Barcelona Open, where he retired after his match against Otto Virtanen. He needed medical attention during the match and later missed training ahead of his next round before eventually withdrawing from the tournament.

In addition to the French Open, he has also withdrawn from the Italian Open, scheduled from May 6 to 16.

Alcaraz wrote, “After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing is to be cautious and not participate in Rome and Roland Garros, while we wait to assess the evolution to decide when we will return to the court. It's a complicated moment for me, but I'm sure we'll come out stronger from here.”

NO SINCARAZ AT ROLAND GARROS

Alcaraz’s withdrawal from the French Open also rules out another chapter of the much-anticipated Sincaraz rivalry at the clay-court major. The two last met in a Grand Slam at the US Open final last year, where Alcaraz triumphed at Flushing Meadows.

More recently, however, Sinner got the better of him, defeating Alcaraz to win the Monte Carlo Masters and also taking over the World No.1 ranking.

With Alcaraz out of both the Rome Masters and the French Open, Sinner will head to Roland Garros as the top seed and World No.1.

Despite his recent injury concerns, Alcaraz has had a positive note as well, having won the World Sportsman of the Year Award at the Laureus Awards, finishing ahead of Sinner, who was also among the nominees.

Alcaraz’s withdrawal also offers Novak Djokovic some breathing space, with both Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner having pushed him hard in majors over the past couple of years.

The French Open 2026 is scheduled to be held from May 24 to June 7.

- Ends