Carlos Alcaraz's latest injury setback continues to set an unwanted trend in his career, with the Spaniard forced to miss or retire from numerous tournaments.
In fact, the number is quite staggering when you narrow down the list of his injuries since the start of August 2021. His first major injury was at the US Open quarterfinal three years ago, when an abdominal tear saw him retire in the match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
2022 was a highly successful season for Alcaraz, both in terms of productivity and health. He only missed two tournaments: the Rome Masters (ankle injury) and the ATP Finals in Turin (abdominal injury).
At the start of 2023, Alcaraz was already the youngest ATP No. 1 in history and a Grand Slam champion. But it was also the same time when injuries began to ravage all that momentum.
Alcaraz withdrew from his first Grand Slam tournament, the 2023 Australian Open, due to a leg injury and only commenced his season on the South American Golden Swing.
Frustratingly, he suffered a grade one strain in the hamstring in a three-set loss to Cameron Norrie in the Rio final. Consequently, Alcaraz missed the Mexican Open, which began shortly after leaving Brazil, to recover from the strain. He had initially signed up to play in Acapulco.
Two more injuries last season forced Alcaraz out of action in Monte Carlo (spinal muscles/hand issues) and the Swiss Indoors in Basel (foot injury and muscle fatigue on the lower back). The 20-year-old was powerless to stop Novak Djokovic from reclaiming the World No. 1 ranking.
With the 2024 season almost reaching the halfway point, the two-time Grand Slam champion has now either retired or withdrawn from four ATP tournaments, including two Masters tournaments.
In total, Alcaraz has missed 12 ATP events because of injuries in four years, which is quite concerning. It will be interesting to hear what he makes of this data when he returns to full fitness.
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