With the 2026 French Open well underway, there’s a key “main character” kind of figure missing in Paris.
It’s none other than Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, the current men’s world No. 2 and last year’s winner at Roland-Garros. You would’ve thought someone like Alcaraz could’ve been poised to pounce on the early-round upset of Jannik Sinner, but alas, it is now a wide-open field for the men.
As for why Alcaraz isn’t playing this edition of the French Open, he’s currently recovering from a right wrist injury suffered in mid-April. In addition to missing the French Open, Alcaraz also pulled himself out of the preceding Madrid Open and the Italian Open tournaments. He explained his decision in a post on X when originally making the announcement:
Después de los resultados de las pruebas realizadas hoy, hemos decidido que lo más prudente es ser cautos y no participar en Roma y Roland Garros, a la espera de valorar la evolución para decidir cuándo volveremos a la pista. Es un momento complicado para mí, pero estoy seguro de… pic.twitter.com/U6PhjtXnBX
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) April 24, 2026
At the time of this writing, it’s unclear when Alcaraz will return, but coming back during Wimbledon late next month shouldn’t be out of the question. That would give the tennis superstar about another month of recovery plus additional necessary training to get back into the swing of things.
Let’s hope he is back by then because tennis is just so much better whenever we get to watch Alcaraz play.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Carlos Alcaraz: Why Spanish star is sitting out French Open
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