World No. 2 men’s tennis star Carlos Alcaraz has delivered a major blow to Wimbledon fans, officially announcing his withdrawal from the 2025 Grand Slam tournament on Tuesday, just weeks before the iconic grass-court event is set to kick off. The 23-year-old Spaniard, who already withdrew from the 2025 Roland Garros as the defending two-time champion, confirmed that his ongoing recovery from a wrist injury has not progressed enough to allow him to compete.
Alcaraz first sustained the injury during his first-round match at the Barcelona Open earlier this spring. The issue forced him to pull out of consecutive ATP tour stops in Madrid and Rome, before he confirmed he would miss the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris. Now, the injury has ruled him out of two of the most prestigious events on the tennis calendar: the Queen’s Club Championships and Wimbledon.
“My recovery is going well and I’m feeling much better, but unfortunately I’m still not ready to play, I am obliged to withdraw from both Queen’s and Wimbledon,” Alcaraz said in a statement released Tuesday. “These are two really special tournaments for me and I’ll miss them a lot. We’ll keep working to come back as soon as possible.”
The withdrawal ends Alcaraz’s bid to reclaim the Wimbledon title he won in 2023. Last year, he fell just short of defending his crown, losing a tight final to current world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy. Alcaraz’s absence also pauses one of the most exciting young rivalries in men’s tennis, as the pair have traded major titles and top rankings over the past two years. With Alcaraz out, Sinner solidifies his position as the overwhelming favorite to claim both the 2025 Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles.
Despite the disappointing withdrawal, 2025 has still been a career-defining season for Alcaraz so far. In January, he became the youngest man in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam after claiming his first Australian Open title. He also picked up a tournament win in Doha earlier this year, holding an impressive 22-3 win-loss record across the season to date. This Wimbledon withdrawal marks only the third Grand Slam Alcaraz has missed since he made his main draw Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Australian Open.