Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has suffered a serious blow in his
pursuit to return to the top in the ATP rankings. The 20-year-old is often
regarded as one of the most highly-rated players currently playing in the men’s
singles category alongside Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
On Tuesday, in a post on social media platform X — previously
known as Twitter — Alcaraz announced that he will be withdrawing from the
ongoing Monte-Carlo Masters because of a forearm injury. “I have been working
in Monte Carlo and trying to recover until the last minute from an injured
pronator teres in my right arm, but it was not possible and I cannot play!. I
was really looking forward to playing… See you next year!,” he wrote.
The news broke after a day of speculation regarding the
fitness of the young tennis star after he decided to stay indoors and not show
up for training on Tuesday. The development means that Alcaraz is now set to lose
some key points as he is set to stay on the sidelines to recover from the forearm
injury.
While Alcaraz did not
play in the Monte-Carlo last year as well, he went on to win the titles in
Barcelona and Madrid in April. If he fails to recover in time and cannot
take part in those two events, he is set to lose as many as 1,500 points which
might see him even lose the third spot in the ATP rankings.