“Can’t give a timeline for my return”: Alcaraz leaves Roland-Garros presence in doubt after wrist blow
“I’d rather come back a little later, but in great shape, than return quickly and risk making this injury worse”, said Carlos Alcaraz at Laureus Awards.
Carlos Alcaraz, 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Carlos Alcaraz picked up the 2026 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award in Madrid on Monday evening – wrist splint and all. But while the Spaniard smiled on the red carpet in a tuxedo, his right wrist sat immobilised in a cast, a vivid reminder of the cloud hanging over his clay-court season.
Speaking candidly at a press conference ahead of the ceremony, Alcaraz laid out the difficult calculation he now faces. “If I push to play Roland-Garros, it could harm me for the tournaments that follow,” he said. “We are waiting for the next scan to find out more and make a decision. But I’d rather come back maybe a little later, but in great shape, than come back quickly and risk making this injury worse.”
Alcaraz : “things that happen”
Alcaraz has not played since his opening match at the Barcelona Open, where he beat Otto Virtanen 6–4, 6–2 while visibly in pain and calling for a physio mid-changeover. The scans taken the following day confirmed what many feared: the injury was more serious than first thought. He withdrew from Barcelona, then from his home tournament in Madrid — missing the event for the second consecutive year.
The 22-year-old, who became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam at January’s Australian Open, was equally candid about the emotional toll. “Having had to withdraw from Barcelona and now Madrid, tournaments I look forward to all year to play in front of my home crowd, is really painful. But these are things that happen in professional sport and you have to accept them.”
A crucial next scan
The key moment will come with his next medical examination. “We’ll have to wait and see. The next test is going to be crucial,” Alcaraz said. “We are trying to do everything in our hands so that it goes well. I’m trying to stay positive, stay upbeat, with patience, although these days are feeling long. I can’t give a timeline for my return.”
Feliciano López, tournament director of the Madrid Open and someone who has experienced a similar injury himself, was not optimistic. He suggested Rome – beginning May 6 – was “almost impossible” for Alcaraz, and called his Roland-Garros participation an open question. That leaves the Spaniard roughly five weeks to recover before the French Open begins, where he is bidding for a third consecutive title.
Alcaraz holds 3,000 ranking points across Rome and Roland Garros from last year’s triumphs. Missing both would hand Jannik Sinner, who defeated him in the Monte-Carlo final to reclaim world number one, a commanding advantage in the rankings race. More significantly, it would leave Paris open for the Italian to claim his only missing Grand Slam title. For now, Alcaraz is resting at home in Murcia, surrounded by his medical team, and waiting for a scan that could define the entire shape of his season.
