Carlos Alcaraz withdraws from Wimbledon due to wrist injury

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Carlos Alcaraz shocked the tennis world after announcing that he will not see action in the Wimbledon Grand Slam event because of a wrist injury.

On May 19, 2026, the seven-time Grand Slam winner made everything official after uploading a lengthy post on his Instagram account.

“My recovery is going well and I’m feeling much better, but unfortunately, I’m still not ready to compete,” Alcaraz posted.

In retrospect, Alcaraz was diagnosed with tendon sheath inflammation, or tenosynovitis, during his first-round win over Otto Virtanen at the Barcelona Open a month ago.

Although he finished the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory, further medical examination forced Alcaraz to withdraw from the ATP Masters tournament.

Alcaraz has now been inactive for a month and is currently undergoing rehabilitation, but his ultimate goal of protecting his world No. 1 spot vanished when Jannik Sinner took over.

Sinner won back-to-back tour-level trophies in two months, widening his lead by 2,740 points heading to the French Open and Wimbledon.

With Alcaraz set to miss two consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, Sinner is expected to maintain his position as the world No. 1 ATP player.

By the time Alcaraz reaches optimum condition, the 23-year-old ace will have only one chance to clinch a second Grand Slam title in 2026, when the U.S. Open begins in August.

Alcaraz will look to replicate his 2026 Australian Open campaign after pulling off a masterful display of tennis against Novak Djokovic in the championship match, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

However, his tournament highlight took place in the semifinals, where he rallied from a set down to stun Alexander Zverev in a five-set thriller, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5.

“I have to withdraw from the grass-court swing at Queens and Wimbledon,” Alcaraz continued.

“They are two truly special tournaments for me and I will miss them a lot. We’ll keep working to come back as soon as possible!”