Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ruled out of French Open due to injury

Carlos Alcaraz will miss out on the opportunity to defend his Roland Garros crown after confirming he will skip the French Open due to injury.

The seven-time grand slam champion picked up a wrist injury in the first round of the Barcelona Open earlier this ⁠month before withdrawing from ​the ⁠tournament.

Scans showed the issue was more serious than initially thought, leading him to ⁠then skip the Madrid Open, with further tests confirming that he will be unable to compete in Paris, nor will he feature at the Italian Open beforehand.

“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,” Alcaraz ‌said on his Instagram.

“This is a difficult time for me, but I am sure we will come out of it stronger.”

The Spaniard was due to enter the tournament as the holder after coming from two sets down to beat rival Jannik Sinner 4-6 6-7 6-4 7-6 7-6 in a five-and-a-half-hour final epic.

Alcaraz, who was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year earlier this week, was vying for his third title at Roland Garros, having dispatched Alexander Zverev to win his first crown in 2024.

However, he has surrendered the world number one ‌ranking to Sinner after losing to the Italian ⁠in the Monte Carlo Masters final days before his ‌Barcelona opener, a win over Otto Virtanen.

Injury means he will likely fall further off the pace with Sinner, competing in Madrid, taking a firm grip at the top of the rankings.

The 22-year-old had previously told reporters that the injury “is more serious than any of us expected” and said he would “need to listen to my body” to avoid further damage.

The ​French Open will start ‌from 24 May in Paris.