Carlos Alcaraz shows up in Madrid after tournament withdrawal

The younger Alcaraz, just 14 years old, was competing in the Madrid Open U-16 tournament, playing his match on one of the outer courts.

He played well throughout, even pulling off a dropshot that would have made his older brother proud. In the end, he came away with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Pol Mas Tabuena.

After the match, Carlos posted a simple message on Instagram: “Proud.”

While Carlos looked happy to be there supporting his brother, there’s little doubt he’d prefer to be back on court himself rather than stuck watching from the stands.

Carlos Alcaraz injury return date

He’s set to miss the rest of the clay-court swing and is aiming to come back for the grass season.

Alcaraz’s injury forces him to skip a stretch where he would have been defending 3,000 ranking points. That opens the door for Jannik Sinner, who has some room to build on his lead in the race for world number one.

He’s hoping to be fit in time for Queen’s and Wimbledon later this summer, where he has points to defend from last year. He won Queen’s Club before finishing runner-up at Wimbledon.

If he can’t play either event, he’ll lose another 1,800 points, putting more pressure on his ranking. Strong results from Novak Djokovic or Alexander Zverev during this period could also close the gap further.

There are still questions about when exactly Alcaraz will be ready. His early withdrawal from both Rome and Roland Garros suggests it might not be a quick comeback.

How Carlos Alcaraz has started 2026

Alcaraz started the season strong, finishing his Career Grand Slam in Melbourne and then adding a title at the Qatar Open.

But his form dropped off after that, with a semi-final loss at Indian Wells followed by an early exit in Miami.

He was then beaten by Sinner in the Monte Carlo Masters final before pulling out of the Barcelona Open because of injury.

Now five months into the season, Alcaraz is second in the ‘Live ATP Race,’ behind only one player on tour.

A total of 3,650 points wouldn’t have been enough for him to qualify for the ATP Finals in 2025 or 2024 but would have been good enough to earn him a spot in Turin back in 2023.

If he can fully recover from his wrist injury, there’s every reason to expect he’ll add plenty more points before November arrives.