
World Cup 2026 injury watch: Key names racing to be ready
Injury concerns rise as World Cup 2026 approaches. Key players like Lamine Yamal are racing to recover.
Carlos Alcaraz may miss Roland Garros due to a serious injury, having already withdrawn from the Barcelona Open, Madrid, and the Italian Open. His absence could impact his title defense and ranking against Jannik Sinner.
Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images
There is a growing sense of concern around Carlos Alcarazâs injury, as speculation builds over just how serious his latest setback might be.
After pulling out of the Barcelona Open halfway through, heâs now also ruled himself out of both Madrid and the Italian Open. That has people starting to wonder if this could keep him from playing at Roland Garros.
If he canât make it, it would mean missing the chance to defend his title and falling further behind Jannik Sinner in the race for world number one.
Andy Roddick has already commented on the injury after seeing photos of Alcaraz wearing a cast. Now, Brad Gilbert and CoCo Vandeweghe have weighed in as well.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Gilbert opened with: âCarlos said that he has got to listen to his medical team and not rush back.â
He pointed to recent examples, saying: âThey could just look to a few years ago, to Dominic Thiem, when he had the wrist injury. He never was the same.
âDel Po you could argue was never the same. He hurt both wrists. Andre Agassi, I started coaching him in 1994, when he was just coming off the wrist surgery from 1993 and he told me he did it on one shot, big serve, he caught it late, instantly felt it and got a couple of scans and got the surgery.â
Looking ahead to how long Alcaraz might be out, Gilbert added: âI am guessing it will be a minimum of three weeks off. Looks at the scan again and thatâs before he even hits any balls.
âI think they are going to err on the side of caution because the last thing they want to do is rush it.â
Carlos Alcaraz is facing an unspecified injury that has raised concerns about its severity.
Currently, there is uncertainty about Carlos Alcaraz's participation in Roland Garros due to his ongoing injury recovery.
If Alcaraz misses Roland Garros, he risks falling further behind Jannik Sinner in the race for the world number one ranking.

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While Alcaraz has a more immediate and important decision to make about his Roland Garros participation, this whole saga should certainly inform his thinking going forward.
After all, this is the second straight year where the Spaniard has rushed from Monte Carlo to Barcelona and injured himself.
Therefore, the solution for 2027 is simple. He must skip this first event of the year in his home country.
By rushing to Barcelona, Alcaraz ends up missing Madrid anyway, which is the far bigger of the two Spanish events, and thus completely disrupts his clay-court season by forcing himself to recover from injury.
The smart decision, and one he must make next year, is to play Monte Carlo, skip Barcelona, and return to Madrid refreshed after a week of relaxation, easing his way onto this new surface.
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