Carlos Alcaraz shows up in Madrid after tournament withdrawal

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Madrid Open because of a wrist injury, but that didn’t keep him away from the event entirely.

The Spaniard was spotted in the stands on quarter-final day.

He wasn’t there to watch the likes of Casper Ruud or Alexander Zverev. Instead, his attention was closer to home.

Alcaraz was there to support his younger brother, Jaime Alcaraz, who had also qualified for the tournament.

Carlos Alcaraz looks on as younger brother wins at Madrid Open

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

The younger Alcaraz, just 14 years old, was competing in the Madrid Open U-16 tournament, playing his match on one of the outer courts.

He played well throughout, even pulling off a dropshot that would have made his older brother proud. In the end, he came away with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Pol Mas Tabuena.

After the match, Carlos posted a simple message on Instagram: “Proud.”

While Carlos looked happy to be there supporting his brother, there’s little doubt he’d prefer to be back on court himself rather than stuck watching from the stands.

Carlos Alcaraz injury return date

He’s set to miss the rest of the clay-court swing and is aiming to come back for the grass season.

Alcaraz’s injury forces him to skip a stretch where he would have been defending 3,000 ranking points. That opens the door for Jannik Sinner, who has some room to build on his lead in the race for world number one.

He’s hoping to be fit in time for Queen’s and Wimbledon later this summer, where he has points to defend from last year. He won Queen’s Club before finishing runner-up at Wimbledon.