When Carlos Alcaraz returns: doubts rise in Spain about Jannik Sinner’s rival
In Spain people are pondering the possible return to the court of Carlos Alcaraz. The Spanish tennis player has officially announced his withdrawal from the Rome Masters 1000 and Roland Garros, but they may not be the only tournaments he will miss. Worrying the Iberian newspapers is the fact that the Murcia champion would not give precise details about the nature of the injury to his right wrist.
Another great Spanish champion, Rafael Nadal, had two major wrist injuries in his career: one in 2014, when he was out for three months due to a desinsertion of the posterior ulnar tendon sheath, and one in 2016, when he was forced to miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon and returned only to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Stopouts for wrist problems hover around two to three months, so Carlos Alcaraz’s presence at Wimbledon is certainly very uncertain, reports dotdebreak. In the worst-case scenario, the recovery would last until August, causing him to skip even the London Slam and aim directly for the season on American cement, and especially the US Open he won last season.
More clarity on the nature of the problem was provided by Dr. Marc Juvenspan, a surgeon specializing in hand and shoulder problems, when questioned by the French newspaper L’Équipe. According to the expert, it would likely be “either tendinitis of the ECU (extensor ulnaris carpi), or a lesion of the TFCC, the triangular ligament that is located inside the wrist and connects the ulna and radius.” A diagnosis that, by the same specialist’s own admission, does not allow for a definite recovery time: “It can last three weeks as much as six months, or even longer,” he warned, thus leaving open any scenario on the Spaniard’s short-term competitive future.
Alcaraz’s absence will inevitably have repercussions on the world ranking front as well. The Spaniard will not be able to defend the 3,000 points he won between Rome and Paris last season, effectively handing Jannik Sinner a highway to consolidate his world lead. The Italian, already back on the throne of the ranking, now looks like a big favorite at both the Internazionali d’Italia and Roland Garros, a tournament he has listed as his main goal of the season being the only Slam he still lacks to complete the Career Grand Slam.
