- The world No.1 picked the injury when training
- He says he worked hard to play in Australia
- He is optimistic that he will play in 2024
World No. 1 in ATP Tour Carlos Alcaraz will not play at the 2023 Australian Open after picking an injury while going about his routine training.
Around 10:00 pm Friday, Central European Time, the world’s best player tweeted the news. Since his retirement against Holger Rune in the Rolex Paris Masters two months ago, Alcaraz, 19, has not participated in a competitive match.
Alcaraz reported experiencing a new injury, this time to his right leg. The 2022 US Open champion doesn’t specify what time this injury occurred, only that it did during a practice session.
He explained that he worked extremely hard to prepare for the first Grand Slam of 2023, but fate had its way. Alcaraz didn’t expect any of this to happen, and he has to wait until 2024 to play in Australia.
Carlos Alcaraz US Open 2022 win. Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP
“When I was at my best in preseason, I picked up an injury through a chance, unnatural movement in training. This time it’s the semimembranosus muscle in my right leg,” Tennis Majors cites.
It’s a tough sit-out for him, but he has no choice because he needs to heal before playing three other Grand Slams and a host of Master 1000 and Masters 500 events in the calendar year.
“I’d worked so hard to get to my best level for Australia but unfortunately I won’t be able to play the Care A2+ Kooyong or the Australian Open. It’s tough, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look forward. See you in 2024″.
The Spaniard loses one of his few chances to gain bonus ATP rankings points. In 2022, he advanced to the third round of the Australian Open before beginning his remarkable season by taking first place in the Rio ATP 500 competition in February.
Alcaraz had two appearances at the World Tennis Championships, an exhibition held in Mubadala (UAE) in the middle of December. There, he suffered two crushing defeats to Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud and didn’t appear to recover entirely from his abdominal ailment.
Alcaraz beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), and 6-3 in the 2022 U.S Open finals, he became the best youngest tennis player. You may not know that he was added to the list of great tennis players who made similar history decades ago.
He joined nine other tennis legends in making this history. Alcaraz broke the record for the youngest player to reach No. 1 in the world rankings.
Alcaraz also became the first Spaniard to win the Miami Open title in the event’s 37-year history. He beat Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday to claim the title of “King of Miami” status.
Carlos Alcaraz. Photo/SportsKeeda
In his first ATP Masters 1000 final, Alcaraz was able to control his nerves and fight back from a sluggish start to win the most important title of his young career.
Carlos Alcaraz was born on May 5 2003, in El Palmar, a village in Murcia, Spain. He grew up in a family of six – three other siblings and his parents, Carlos and Virginia.
He beat fellow countryman Albert Ramos Violas in the singles main event after obtaining a wildcard at the Rio Open in February 2020 when he was 16 years old.
At the age of 17, Alcaraz qualified for the Australian Open’s main draw, becoming the tournament’s youngest male singles player.
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