The past few days have proven to be pretty frustrating for Carlos Alcaraz. Not only did he lose the Monte Carlo Masters final and the No. 1 ranking to his rival Jannik Sinner, but he also sustained a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open. As a result, the Spaniard had to withdraw from the event despite a first-round victory over Otto Virtanen. Things only got worse in the days that followed as he also pulled out of the Madrid Masters. Tournament director Feliciano Lopez feels that the timing of Alcaraz’s injury couldn’t have been worse.

Lopez, who was a player himself and was even ranked No. 12 at one stage, revealed that he had encountered a similar injury to Alcaraz during his playing days and was out of action for two months as a result. If Alcaraz’s injury is also this severe, then he will end up missing both the Rome Masters and the French Open.

“I’ve had this injury before; from what I’ve heard, it’s a common injury in tennis. I haven’t spoken to him or the doctor, but it seems to be a very frequent injury in the tennis world. I think his wrist tendon is a bit inflamed. I hope it’s not torn, and now he needs to rest, because it’s not just a simple muscle strain from overuse,” Lopez said on the Radioestadio Noche program.

“This kind of thing can happen to the wrist; there are many small bones and tendons… I was out for about two months. If you do the math, Roland-Garros is in five weeks. I don’t know what his injury is or how extensive it is. I was out for two months, but of course, when I got injured, I could barely hold a racket for a few days. He finished the match in the end, and I wish him a speedy recovery, because it’s an important season for him,” he added.

He further highlighted how important the upcoming tournaments are for Alcaraz as a huge number of points will be at stake.

“It’s true that Carlos wins on all surfaces, but first there’s Madrid, then Rome, another Masters 1000, and finally Roland-Garros, where he’s also defending his title. That’s 4,000 points at stake. Madrid is out of the picture, Rome seems almost impossible. I hope he’ll be ready for Roland-Garros, I really hope so,” he concluded.

Though Alcaraz’s injury didn’t look to be anything serious at first, the test results of his wrist told an entirely different story. Once they arrived, it became clear that the 22-year-old will not be able to continue his Barcelona Open campaign.

“From today’s tests, it’s a slightly more serious injury than we all expected and, honestly, I need to listen to my body, to do what’s best for me, so it doesn’t impact me in the future,” Alcaraz said during a press conference that took place on his rest day.

The issue had come up during the first set of the Spaniard’s clash against Virtanen. At 5-4, Alcaraz felt that there was a problem with his wrist and called in the physio to examine it.

“As you all saw yesterday in the match, after a return, my wrist gave way. I started to feel discomfort, which gradually got worse during the match. As I said yesterday, it’s something I’ve felt before, and I didn’t think it would get any worse, that it was simply a niggle from the demands of the week.”

As things stand, the nature of the injury is still unknown. Thus, it is unclear for how many days or weeks will Alcaraz have to remain on the sidelines. There is a very demanding schedule ahead of him as after Madrid Open concludes on May 3, the Rome Masters will commence just three days later on May 6. Once this tournament gets over on May 17, players will have a week to prepare for the French Open that will begin from May 24.

Alcaraz will be absolutely gutted to miss his home event in Madrid. He has previously won the tournament twice (2022 and 23) and would have been among the favorites to lift the title this year as well. The crowd at the Spanish capital will also miss seeing their local hero in action.

However, he is not the only one to have pulled out from the Madrid Open and the number of player withdrawals from the tournament have already reached quite a big number.

Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, and many more pull out from Madrid Masters

World No. 4 Novak Djokovic will also be out of action from the competition as he is yet to recover from the right shoulder injury that he had picked up at the Indian Wells Masters. He hasn’t returned to the court since his defeat to Jack Draper in California.

Another notable absentee will be Taylor Fritz, who has pulled out because of his recurring knee issues. The American hasn’t been in action since his defeat to Jiri Lehecka at the Miami Open.

His compatriot Frances Tiafoe is also set to miss the tournament. Neither him nor his team have provided an explanation behind the sudden withdrawal. Additionally, Holger Rune will miss out as he is still recovering from the ACL injury that he had picked up last year at the Stockholm Open.

On the other hand, Emma Raducanu, Emma Navarro and Maya Joint are among the notable women’s players to have withdrawn from the Madrid Open so far.

While Raducanu is yet to fully recover from the viral illness that she had picked up in February, Navarro is still dealing with undisclosed health issues. Finally, Joint has been out of action since the Indian Wells Open due to a back injury and her absence is set to continue further.

The Madrid Masters has lost a significant number of headline names across both the men’s and women’s draws in the past few days. With the tournament being mere days away, the organizers will be hoping that no one else decides to pull out at the last moment.