Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz will miss this year's Wimbledon because of a wrist injury.

The world number two withdrew from last month's Barcelona Open after sustaining the injury to his right wrist in the first round.

The Spaniard subsequently pulled out of the French Open, where he is the two-time defending champion, to recover.

"My recovery is going well and I'm feeling much better, but unfortunately I'm still not ready to compete, which is why I have to withdraw from the grass-court swing at Queen's and Wimbledon," Alcaraz, 23, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.

"They are two truly special tournaments for me and I will miss them a lot.

"We'll keep working to come back as soon as possible."

Alcaraz was the two-time defending champion at last year's Wimbledon but lost in the final to rival Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz began the year by winning his first Australian Open title and becoming the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.

He would have been looking to kick on further in 2026, but will now miss the entire grass court season along with the majority of the clay court swing.

Alcaraz had been set to play at Queen's, where he is a two-time winner, before Wimbledon begins on 29 June.

He is now set to lose even more ground in the rankings to Italy's Sinner, who replaced him as world number one last month and has won the past six Masters 1,000 tournaments, including three in the past five weeks.

The past nine men's major singles titles have been split between Alcaraz and Sinner, with the Spaniard winning five of them.

Alcaraz's withdrawal from Wimbledon simultaneously opens up the draw and boosts Sinner's title hopes, given his recent dominance on the ATP Tour.

However, the 24-year-old Italian has said he will not play any grass court events in the build up to Wimbledon after a draining few months.

Wrist injuries are notoriously problematic for tennis players, especially if not managed correctly, and Alcaraz previously said he did not want to do further harm for "future tournaments".

Speaking at the Laureus Awards in April before announcing his decision to withdraw from the French Open, he said: "I have a very long career ahead of me, with many years still to come.

"Forcing things at this Roland Garros could really harm me for future tournaments."

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem retired at the end of 2024 after his career was derailed by a wrist injury, while Juan Martin del Potro was also plagued by a wrist problem after winning his sole major at the 2009 US Open.

'Any draw lacking Alcaraz or Sinner is much diminished'

The news is extremely disappointing, although not hugely surprising, as the utmost caution is required with wrist injuries - which are often a player's biggest fear.

Any Grand Slam draw lacking either Alcaraz or Sinner is much diminished given the three finals we witnessed between them last year.

Alcaraz's extended absence will give Sinner the chance to build up a cavernous lead at the top of the world rankings, and eat into Alcaraz's 7-4 lead in Grand Slam titles won.

But Sinner has won 29 matches in a row since the beginning of March and will enter Roland Garros - let alone the grass season - with increasing physical and mental fatigue.

So there is also an opportunity for the other members of the world's top 10. Of those, only Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic have ever won a Grand Slam singles title.

Djokovic turns 39 on Friday, and has had injury problems of his own. But he is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, and so will pose a serious threat if his body allows him one more roll of the dice. (BBC)

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