There is some good news for Carlos Alcaraz following his withdrawal from the Barcelona Open with a respected Spanish journalist confirming that he is not injured.
The world No 3 has been struggling with a right forearm problem in recent weeks and was forced to skip his title defence at the ATP 500 event with the issue also keeping him out of last week’s Monte Carlo Masters.
Although a press release from the Barcelona organisers stated that the 20-year-old “suffered from the injury sustained in Monte Carlo, and did not have a good feeling in his training”, journalist German R. Abril has given an update following medical tests as he insisted that the two-time Grand Slam winner’s withdrawal was more about precaution.
“It is important to note: Carlos Alcaraz is NOT injured. This was confirmed yesterday by medical tests,” he wrote on X.
“The problem is that he doesn’t have a good feeling when hitting hard with his forehand. It is important that you feel confident again when hitting the drive.”
Hours before announcing his withdrawal from the tournament, Alcaraz practiced at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, but it was noted that “he has barely touched the ball and has spent many minutes talking with his medical team”.
Carlos Alcaraz now has just over a week to shake off the forearm problem as the Madrid Open – where is once again the defending champion – gets underway on April 22 in the Spanish capital.
His withdrawal from the Barcelona Open has seen him drop further behind Jannik Sinner in the ATP Rankings with the Italian opening a 515-point lead over him in the battle for second place behind Novak Djokovic.
To complicate things further for Alcaraz, as the defending champion in Madrid he will drop 1,000 points while Sinner has no points to defend as he missed the 2023 edition due to illness.
The ATP Tour then moves to Rome for the Italian Open where Alcaraz lost in the third round last year the clay-court season comes to an end at Roland Garros with the French Open starting on May 26.
The Spaniard has had a stop-start 2024 season so far as he lost in the semi-final of the Australian Open and the Argentina Open and then picked up an ankle injury in his opening match of the Rio Open.
After shaking off that injury, he went on to win the Indian Wells Open before losing in the quarter-final of the Miami Open. He then skipped the Monte Carlo Masters and now the Barcelona Open due to his forearm problem.
