Two-time defending French Open men’s singles champion Carlos Alcaraz has opened up about the severity of his right wrist injury, confirming that the results of an upcoming medical scan will decide whether he can defend his title at the 2025 Roland Garros tournament, which kicks off on May 24. The world’s second-ranked men’s tennis player was forced to withdraw from back-to-back clay-court tournaments in the past week after picking up the injury during his opening-round win at the Barcelona Open. He subsequently pulled out of the Madrid Open, which is scheduled to begin play on Tuesday.
In a candid interview with Spanish public broadcaster TVE, the 22-year-old seven-time Grand Slam winner revealed the injury is more severe than his medical team initially anticipated. “We’ve been doing everything in our power to set this up for a good outcome,” Alcaraz said. “I’m staying patient, we’re just taking things day by day right now. We have a series of tests coming up over the next few days, and once we have those results, we’ll know the state of the injury and what our next move will be.”
Alcaraz’s recent drop in ranking adds an extra layer of stakes to his recovery: Italian star Jannik Sinner reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking earlier this month after defeating Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo Masters final. Alcaraz, who enjoyed a historic clay-court season in 2024 that included titles at Monte Carlo, Rome and Roland Garros, stands to lose a significant number of ranking points from his 2024 clay run, opening the door for Sinner to extend his lead at the top of the ATP rankings if Alcaraz is unable to compete in Paris.
For Alcaraz, however, long-term career health takes priority over short-term results. The young star said he would rather delay his return to competition than rush back and risk aggravating the injury. “I’d much rather come back a little later when I’m 100% match fit than jump back in too early, rushed and not feeling right,” he explained. “God willing, I’ve got a very long career ahead of me, and pushing too hard to play this Roland Garros could do serious damage that hurts my performance in future tournaments. Injuries are just part of professional sport, you have to accept when things don’t go your way. If I want to avoid this becoming a long-term problem, I need to recover properly first.”
Alcaraz has built an extraordinary record at the French Open over the past three years, reaching at least the semi-finals of the clay-court Grand Slam every event since 2023 and claiming back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. All eyes in the tennis world will now be on his upcoming test results to see whether he will get the chance to go for a third consecutive Roland Garros crown next month.