Alcaraz alert, another withdrawal comes. Now Jannik Sinner must decide

The red alert has been triggered for Carlos Alcaraz and his staff: after withdrawing in Barcelona due to a wrist knockout before the second round, the Murcian has also decided to forfeit participation in the Madrid tournament, the second Masters 1000 of the three on clay. A forfeit that makes noise for several reasons and that could affect, among other things, Jannik Sinner’s decisions not only with regard to the ranking discourse but also with regard to the preparation for Roland Garros.

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Alcaraz went from the prospect of returning to number one in the ATP rankings, should he win in Barcelona, to the dry loss of 280 points with his withdrawal in recent days. The gap in the rankings will still remain minimal (there are 390 points between Sinner’s 13,350 and Alcaraz’s 12,960 as of the next update), but Carlitos’ absence in the Spanish capital’s tournament could convince Jannik to drop out in turn. Again, point management, as well as energy management, could make the difference.

In Madrid, Alcaraz will not lose points by not participating and Sinner, with a forfeit, would also remain at the current quota. The two, in fact, had not participated in last year’s Masters 1000 in the Spanish capital for different reasons: the Murcian due to a muscle problem, the South Tyrolean due to the stop agreed upon with Wada for the so-called Clostebol case. The challenge would therefore be postponed to Rome, where instead Alcaraz must defend 1,000 points, as defending champion, and Sinner 650, as a finalist in 2025.

With Roland Garros now just around the corner (in fact, there are five weeks to go before the tournament starts, as far as the main draw is concerned), the scenario also leads to evaluations that go beyond the world rankings. In fact, the close tournaments and the need to recover psychophysical energies could convince Sinner to effectively deny the rumors that wanted him on the court in all three Masters 1000 on clay, thus preferring a targeted preparation for the tournaments in Rome and Paris.

The timing is already tight: a decision by the Italian star could be very close.