Carlos Alcaraz confirmed some devastating news during a press conference ahead of his second match at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
Alcaraz started his campaign in Barcelona with a 6-4, 6-2 win over qualifier Otto Virtanen, setting up a round of 16 clash with Tomas Machac.
The match is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 16, but before it could begin, Alcaraz announced that he would be holding an urgent press conference ahead on Wednesday (April 15) afternoon.
Of course, such a decision caused concern amongst tennis fans fearing that the world no.2 could be injured ahead of a crucial period of the year.
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And now, these fears have unfortunately been confirmed, as Alcaraz has announced that he has withdrawn from the Barcelona Open after sustaining an injury to his right wrist.
During the first set of his win over Virtanen, Alcaraz was forced to call the physiotherapist onto the court, who then decided to tape the Spaniard's wrist for the remainder of the match.
Post-match, Alcaraz admitted that he would undergo further tests on his wrist and rest, with the hopes that it would not hold him back for the remainder of the tournament and beyond.
But, the 22-year-old has now confirmed that the wrist injury is worse than they had thought, forcing him to pull out of the Barcelona Open.
“It’s a more serious injury than we expected when we saw the results of this morning’s tests,” Alcaraz told reporters, via Jose Moron.
“I’m stepping back to avoid taking any risks.
“With great sadness, I’m leaving to start recovery as soon as possible so I can be ready for the upcoming tournaments as soon as possible.”
When will Alcaraz be fit to return?
This is not the first time that Alcaraz has suffered an injury to his wrist, as he dealt with a similar problem two years ago.
In that case, he was able to come back after just two weeks, although he continued to play with discomfort.
As it stands, it is not yet known exactly how severe Alcaraz's injury is this time, but it perhaps couldn't have come at a worse time given his ongoing battle for world no.1 with rival Jannik Sinner.
Sinner recently reclaimed his sport at the top after beating Alcaraz in straights sets in the Monte-Carlo Masters final.
However, the Spanish star had no doubt hoped he could fight to take it back in the coming weeks with so many big tournaments coming up.
But now, Alcaraz's injury casts doubt over his ability to participate in events such as the Madrid on April 20, the Italian Open, held between May 5 and 17 and, most crucially, the Frecn Open at Rolland Garos taking place from May 18 to June 7.
Topics: Carlos Alcaraz, Tennis, Injury
Ben McCrum