By Carlos Alcaraz is in a race against time to be fit for the French Open after pulling out of the Italian Open with an arm injury. The Spaniard has played through an injury to his right forearm but admitted that the problem had “taken its toll” during the Madrid Open.
Alcaraz, who played with strapping on his right arm, was defeated by Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final in Spain. It was the 20-year-old’s first defeat at the tournament in three years, a run that extended to 14 matches.
He was forced to sit out of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open due to injury and hopes that a period of rest will aid a full recovery. Informing fans of his decision to pull out of the Italian Open, Alcaraz wrote on X that he was suffering from a muscle edema – an increase of fluid into a muscle.
Alcaraz tweeted: “I felt some pain after playing in Madrid, some discomfort in my arm. Today I did some tests and I have a muscle edema in my pronator teres, a consequence of my recent injury.
“Unfortunately I will not be able to play in Rome. I need to rest so I can recover and play 100 per cent pain free. I am very sorry, I will see you next year @InteBNLdItalia.”
Alcaraz has just over three weeks to make a full recovery in time for the first round of the French Open. The tournament starts on May 26 with the men’s singles final taking place on June 9.
After his 4-6 6-3 6-2 defeat by Rublev, Alcaraz admitted that he was suffering with soreness all over his body having battled for nearly three hours against Jan-Lennard Struff the previous day.
“It has been a difficult day for me after yesterday’s match, it had been a while without a match like this and I woke up with soreness all over my body,” he said after his match with Rublev.
“The forearm was there, and all that has taken its toll on me a bit. I’m not going to take away from Rublev’s match, but it was a difficult match for me.”
The reigning Wimbledon champion reached the semi-final of the French Open last year, his best result at Roland-Garros to date. Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner was forced to withdraw from the Madrid Open due to a hip injury ahead of his quarter-final clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Italian has not confirmed whether he will play at his home tournament in Rome.
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