By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 24, 2026
Photo credit: Julien DeRosa/AFP/Getty
A wrist injury has ended Carlos Alcaraz’s 2026 clay campaign and put the tennis world in pain, said Jannik Sinner.
Denying three championship points, Alcaraz dealt Sinner his most stinging defeat in a stirring Roland Garros final last June.
World No. 1 Sinner said today’s announcement of Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Rome and Roland Garros puts tennis in a world of pain.
Wimbledon winner Sinner said “tennis needs Alcaraz” and the buzz the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry brings to the game.
The second-ranked Spaniard’s absence will reconfigure the Roland Garros draw, Sinner said after beating Benjamin Bonzi 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4 in today’s Mutua Madrid Open opener to post his 18th consecutive win and improve to an ATP-best 25-2 on the season.
“Tennis is a much better sport when [Alcaraz is] around,” Sinner said in his Mutua Madrid Open presser. “For me personally it’s nice when he’s around. It makes me look also in the draw
and seeing the matches in a different way. Even though if I would face Carlos it would always be in the final. With the No. 1 and No. 2 seed, that’s the case.
“But, yeah, being young, going through difficult moments, it can happen. I do believe he’s going to come back stronger than before. But injuries are always tough, especially a wrist. There’s certain areas of our body what are very sensitive. The wrist, we saw with also other players in the past, that they can complicate our life.”
Last summer, Alcaraz out-dueled Sinner in what many regard as the finest French Open final of the Open Era.
Rocking the red clay with fearless drives, Alcaraz fought off three championship points, battled back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his life and out-dueled world No. 1 Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) to successfully defend his Roland Garros title in a dazzling and epic final.
The final spanned five hours, 29 minutes popped with dizzying flashes of shotmaking, massive momentum shifts and saw both champions serve for the title.
The top-seeded Sinner served for the championship at 5-4 in the fourth set. The second-seeded Alcaraz served for it at 5-4 in the fifth set only to see his red-haired rival break back.
In the end, a dynamic Alcaraz elevated next-level tennis to stratospheric heights in the fifth-set tiebreaker.
Now, Alcaraz’s withdrawal from Rome and Paris means he will lose 3,000 ranking points and Sinner can solidify his hold on the No. 1 ranking ahead of his Wimbledon title defense.
“After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing to do is to be cautious and not participate in Rome or Roland Garros as we wait to evaluate the progress so we can decide when to return to court,” Alcaraz wrote on social media. “This is a difficult time for me, but I am sure we will come out of it stronger.”
Together, Alcaraz and Sinner have combined to capture nine consecutive Grand Slam championships. Now, Alcaraz’s pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam this year is over.
Champions ranging from Jimmy Connors to Andre Agassi to Venus Williams to Kim Clijsters have battled wrist problems in the past.
Sinner said Alcaraz is wise to proceed with caution and take time to allow the joint to fully heal.
In announcing his withdrawal, Alcaraz did not offer a timetable for his return to the pro circuit.
“So I hope he’s going to come back and he will not have any further injuries,” Sinner said. “But I also believe that it’s good that he and his team takes the time, you know. If you come back
too early, then maybe you have a bigger problem afterwards.
“We all want that he’s competitive for when he’s going to come back. In this case now the next goal I guess for him, and I hope so, it’s Wimbledon. So I hope he’s going to be back there.
“And then, whoever is in the draw, it’s always a long way in any case, but this is all secondary now. I sent him, yeah, a wish for a speedy recovery, and though it’s painful and very sad for all tennis.”