Carlos Alcaraz has once again been a victim of an injury and his fitness has once again denied him an opportunity to play at an important event. Before winning the Indian Wells 2024 title this year, he had to bow out of the Rio Open due to injury, giving his opponent Thiago Monteiro a walkover, which did not give him a chance to play more on clay.
Here are 5 big tournaments Alcaraz has missed in his career so far which shows that the Spaniard still has a long way to go to be considered as the best player in the world –
Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from Monte Carlo Masters 2024
Coming out hot off the press, Carlos Alcaraz will not be playing in the Monte Carlo Masters 2024. The 20-year-old Spaniard has withdrawn from the tournament last minute, bringing his potential road to the final to the most abrupt end even before it began. He has come up with an arm injury, and this just bolstered his rivals like Jannik Sinner’s chances of winning the tournament.
Alcaraz, who has done well in the past on clay, found himself in a precarious position to withhold his World No.2 ranking. It is not the ideal way for him to start the clay season.
Alcaraz also didn’t play in the Monte Carlo Masters 2023
Carlos Alcaraz had a brilliant opportunity to win the clay-court opener ATP 1000 Masters title last year. However, he was forced to skip the event and was quoted as saying to the press for the reason of his withdrawal –
“I have post-traumatic arthritis in my left hand and muscle discomfort in my spine that needs rest to cope with all that is to come.”
Had Alcaraz been fit enough, he could have won the title more so because Novak Djokovic, the other player who was in terrific form, lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the event.
Carlos Alcaraz skipped the Australian Open 2023
Alcaraz was freshly coming off as the US Open 2022 winner, an achievement that impressed the tennis world immensely. But he missed out on the Australian Open 2023 due to a hamstring injury, which also did not allow him to participate in the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals that ended the 2022 season.
Carlos Alcaraz being out of the Australian Open 2023 made him lose his World No.1 ranking and powered Novak Djokovic to not only succeed him at the top, but regain his ‘King of Melbourne’ throne by winning that Grand Slam. The injury further proved costly for Alcaraz when Djokovic won 3 Grand Slams last year (barring the Wimbledon title).
ATP Finals 2022 did not have Alcaraz in it either
Carlos Alcaraz did finish 2022 as the World No.1 despite not playing in the ATP Finals, but once again, Novak Djokovic took full advantage of not having to play the best player in the world then in Turin. Rafael Nadal was out of form and with no other competition as such, Djokovic was the runaway winner despite being the lowest ranked out of the top 8 players.
Alcaraz missed the Rome Masters 2022 as well
Carlos Alcaraz rebounded well to win the US Open in 2022. But he could have capitalised on the momentum he created in the clay swing when he won the Madrid and Barcelona Open titles back-to-back, defeating Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at least once in the process.
However, Alcaraz had to back out of the Rome Masters 2022 due to an ankle injury. He used it as a precaution to be fit to play the French Open that year. It was a difficult few months for the Spaniard, who did not succeed at Roland Garros either, which played a huge role in Rafael Nadal winning the title for the 14th time in his career.
When it comes to the Rome Masters 2022, once again, the man to have taken the most advantage of the young Spaniard’s absence, is Novak Djokovic as he won that title.
