World number one Carlos Alcaraz will not take part in the Australian Open due to injury. The Spanish tennis shooting star announced this on Friday evening via Twitter.
The 19-year-old said he suffered a muscle injury in his right rear thigh in training before the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
“When I was in top form, I injured myself with an unnatural movement,” wrote the 2022 US Open winner: “I’ve been working very hard. It’s a difficult moment, but I have to be optimistic, recover and post look ahead.”
Alcaraz already missed the ATP finals in Turin and the Davis Cup with the Spanish team at the end of last year.
At that time, a torn muscle in the left abdominal wall, which he suffered in the quarterfinals of the Masters in Paris at the beginning of November, put him out of action. In the duel with the Dane Holger Rune, the Spaniard had to give up, it will be his last game so far.
Nadal rises to number one on the seeding list
In September, after his final victory in New York over the Norwegian Casper Ruud, Alcaraz rose to become the youngest number one in tennis history.
The Australian Open will be held in Melbourne from January 16th to 29th, Grand Slam record winner Rafael Nadal is now number one on the seeding list.
In addition to the Spaniard, the Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev (Russia) should have the best chance of winning the title.
The German Olympic champion Alexander Zverev celebrates his Grand Slam comeback after an injury break of almost seven months.