According to Bobbie Jackson of BBC Sports on Friday, world number two Carlos Alcaraz of El Palmar, Spain will not be competing at the French Open this year because of a wrist injury. Alcaraz injured his wrist during his first round match at the 2026 Barcelona Open in a 6-4, 6-2 win over Otto Virtanen of Finland. As a result, he withdrew from his second round match against Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic.
The specific wrist injury happened in the first set when his wrist “gave way” in an attempt to return a shot according to the ATP Tour. Alcaraz is the defending French Open champion. A year ago he defeated Jannik Sinner of Italy, 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 for his second consecutive grand slam title on clay.
The fact that Alcaraz is not competing at any more clay court events in 2026 is noteworthy when you consider the fact he is also the defending champion from the Italian Open too. At last year’s Masters 1000 Series event in Rome, Alcaraz defeated Sinner 7-6, 6-1.
The fact that Alcaraz will not be competing at the second grand slam event of the year, Sinner becomes the clear favourite to win the 2026 French Open. However, it should be noted that the French Open is the only grand slam event that Sinner had never won. Sinner reached his first French Open final last year when he lost to Alcaraz.
Of Sinner’s 27 ATP title victories, only two have come on clay. He won the 2022 Croatia Open and 2026 Monte Carlo Masters. In both finals, Sinner beat Alcaraz.
