Alcaraz

MADRID (AP) — Home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open on Thursday because of muscle injuries, saying he didn’t want to risk making things worse before the French Open.

The third-ranked Spaniard blamed his injuries on the “really tight” schedule that is part of the “demanding sport” of tennis.

Alcaraz said he has not fully recovered from the upper leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final last Sunday. He also said he has a left leg injury. His first appearance at the Caja Magica in Madrid was scheduled for Saturday.

Alcaraz is a two-time champion in Madrid, having won in 2022 and 2023. He was the second seed this week and in the same half of the draw as Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz said he did “everything possible to play” but had to make the “tough decision” to withdraw after listening to his body and talking to doctors.

“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.”

He said he felt “secure” about recovering in time to play next month at Roland Garros, where he is the defending champion. He won the Roland Garros final last year against Alexander Zverev, who has just leapfrogged the Spaniard to No. 2 in the world after winning in Munich last week.

“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.”

He said he plans to play in Rome ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 25.

“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.”

Alcaraz needed treatment on his leg during his straight-set loss to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final. He had not practiced in Madrid yet, and said this week that he felt “fine” but was waiting on medical test results to determine whether he would play.

Alcaraz, who will turn 22 on May 5, won in Monte Carlo to start his clay-court campaign and on a nine-match winning run until the Barcelona final. He said he later also felt pain in a muscle in his left leg.

Demanding sport

Alcaraz vowed to “come back stronger” but complained of the tennis schedule.

“Tennis is really a demanding sport,” he said. “Playing week after week, so many matches in a row, and you have to heal your body sometimes and take difficult decisions.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion has a 24-5 record this year. In addition to Monte Carlo, he also won in Rotterdam on hard court in February.

“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.”