Carlos Alcaraz blames ‘demanding sport’ for withdrawal from Madrid Open, says will be fit for French Open title defence

Carlos Alcaraz will not be part of the Madrid Open tennis tournament because of exing muscle injuries. The world no 3 said that he didn’t want to risk making things worse before the French Open and that he has still in a race to recover from the upper leg ailment which had hampered his movement during the Barcelona Open final last Sunday.
Alcaraz, who would have been the home favourite at the Madrid Open to claim his third title after wins in 2022 and 2023, blamed his injuries on the “really tight” schedule that is part of the “demanding sport” of tennis.
“Madrid is one of the special tournaments for me, it’s a tournament that I enjoy, I get to play in front of my fans, it’s one of the first tournaments I attended when I was a kid,” Alcaraz said. “These types of decisions are not easy to make but sometimes you have to think about your health and about what is important. A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. If I play here, I could make the injuries worse and stop for several months and that’s not worth it.”
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He added: “Tennis is really a demanding sport. Playing week after week, so many matches in a row, and you have to heal your body sometimes and take difficult decisions. The schedule is really tight, really difficult tournaments week after week, and sometimes you have to think about yourself sometimes, and make the right decisions as to your health.”
Alcaraz said he was hoping to recover in time to defend his title at Roland Garros.
“I’m not really worried about it,” Alcaraz said. “I believe it’s going to take one week, one week and a half, two weeks maximum, but I won’t have doubts about coming back and moving 100% again.”
Alcaraz will be testing his match fitness at the Rome Open ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 25.Story continues below this ad
“My mindset is to do everything it takes to be a hundred percent for Rome. I will do some tests at the beginning of next week just to see how it’s improved, and from that let’s see how it’s going to be the next days,” he said. “My hope is to play in Rome. If not, next tournament is Roland Garros for me. So I will try to be on court as soon as possible.”
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