Carlos Alcaraz forced to withdraw from Barcelona Open with arm injury

The Spaniard collected a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Finn Otto Virtanen during his first Barcelona match, but appeared extremely worried at the end of the first set.

Alcaraz received a medical timeout and was treated around his forearm and wrist area - saying, in Spanish, that he was experiencing pain every time he hit a forehand.

Alcaraz's withdrawal means that Tomas Machac will move into the quarter-finals and will next play either Andrey Rublev or Lorenzo Sonego.

"It's a more serious injury than we all expected, and I have to listen to my body so it doesn't affect me in the future," the Spaniard stated during his withdrawal press conference.

"With great sadness, I have to return home and recover as quickly as possible for the upcoming tournaments."

Less than 24 hours prior to his arrival in Barcelona, Alcaraz had competed in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters, where he was the defending champion.

Unfortunately for the six-time Grand Slam champion, it was rival Jannik Sinner who was victorious 7-6(5), 6-3 - the Italian's first clay-court Masters 1000 title.

Additionally, Sinner's trophy lift allowed him to leapfrog Alcaraz's ranking and retake the world No 1 spot for the first time since mid-2025.

After his first-round victory, he sought to quell any concerns during his press conference and compared it to forearm pain, which he had experienced during the clay-court season two years ago.

"It's just discomfort, discomfort that pops up, considering the few days I've had to recover, when everything has been practically back-to-back, so in the end things come up in some unusual movements," the world No 2 stated.

"We've tried to calm ourselves down, try to keep going, and above all, be more relaxed, especially in the second set, and see what happens."

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