Carlos Alcaraz's injury-plagued 2024 season continues as he was now forced to withdraw from the 2024 Barcelona Open.
The Spaniard is one of the most talented players on the ATP Tour, if not the most talented, but if one things became clear during his still very short career, it's that he's quite prone to injuries.
Already during his breakthrough year, the youngster struggled a lot, and the same applied last year, when he missed the Australian Open. Now, the 2024 season didn't start any better.
Alcaraz rolled his ankle in Rio, and even though he recovered from that injury perfectly to defend his title at the Indian Wells Open, he won't defend his title at the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona.
Prior to the Monte-Carlo Masters, the 20-year-old appeared with heavy strapping on his arm, suggesting he was not 100% healthy, and the footage from his practice only confirmed that, as he wasn't hitting any proper forehands.
Ultimately, the Spanish player withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters, and now he made the same decision ahead of the 2024 Barcelona Open, the tournament he was defending champion in, after winning the title in both 2022 and 2023.
It's the worst part of the season for Alcaraz to struggle with an injury, as clay is his best surface, even though both of his major titles were won on different surfaces, first the US Open on hard and then Wimbledon on grass.
Up next for Alcaraz should be the Madrid Open, an ATP Masters 1000 tournament that he won last year as well, and it would be a real disaster if he didn't get to defend that trophy either.
As for the Barcelona Open draw, Fabian Marozsan replaced the Spaniard in the top spot of the draw as the 17th seed, taking on the winner of the match between Luca van Assche and Zhizhen Zhang in the second round.