Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is the highest-profile player who won’t be in action at the Italian Open as he is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while it remains to be seen if six-time winner Novak Djokovic and British No 1 Emma Raducanu will play.
World No 2 Alcaraz sustained a wrist injury during his opening-round match at the Barcelona Open a fortnight ago and withdrew from the ATP 500 tournament ahead of his second-round encounter, but had high hopes of playing at this week’s Madrid Open.
However, scans revealed the injury was more serious than initially thought and he was not only forced to miss his home ATP 1000 event, but has since also been ruled out of the Italian Open and French Open.
Alcaraz is the defending champion in Rome as he defeated local hero and reigning world No 1 Jannik Sinner in last year’s final, but the Italian will now be the clear favourite, especially if Djokovic – who skipped the tournament in 2025 – decides not to enter.
Djokovic has not played any competitive tennis since losing against Jack Draper in the fourth round of the Indian Wells Open on 12 March as he withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open, stating he is still nursing an injury.
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If he does indeed play, Djokovic will be seeded third behind Sinner and Alexander Zverev.
World No 7 Taylor Fritz is the other top-10 star who has confirmed he won’t play in Rome as he is struggling with a long-term knee injury and he will be joined on the sidelines by Jack Draper, who is also out with a knee injury.
Draper picked up the injury in Barcelona and will also miss the French Open.
Holger Rune, meanwhile, is still recovering from surgery after he ruptured his Achilles tendon last October.
ATP Italian Open withdrawal list
- Carlos Alcaraz (world No 2) – replaced by Sebastian Ofner
- Taylor Fritz (world No 7) – replaced by Zachary Svajda
- Jack Draper (world No 28) – replaced by Hamad Medjedovic
- Holger Rune (world No 39) – replaced by Damir Dzumhur
- Arthur Cazaux (world No 73) – replaced by Mattia Bellucci
- Kamil Majchrzak (world No 74) – replaced by Roberto Bautista Agut
- Eliot Spizzirri (world No 82) – replaced by James Duckworth
WTA Italian Open withdrawal list
There is better news for Italian Open organisers on the women’s side of the draw as the top-50 players in the official WTA Rankings are all set to feature with no withdrawals so far.
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka will headline the draw while defending champion and local favourite Jasmine Paolini will also feature along with world No 2 Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek.
Paolini won her home WTA 1000 event last year when she defeated Gauff in straight sets in the final.
You have to go down to No 55 in the rankings for the first withdrawal with British No 1 Sonay Kartal out with a lower back injury, but there are question marks over the likes of Gauff and Swiatek, who struggled with illness during this week’s Madrid Open.
Meanwhile, 2021 US Open winner Raducanu has not featured on the WTA Tour since losing against Amanda Anisimova in the second round in Indian Wells on 9 March due to a viral infection, while Anisimova missed this week’s Madrid event due to a wrist injury.
- Sonay Kartal (world No 55) – replaced by Zeynep Sonmez
- Varvara Gracheva (world No 60) – replaced by Eva Lys
- Veronika Kudermetova (world No 64) – replaced by Petra Marcinko
The post Italian Open withdrawals: Carlos Alcaraz leads list with doubts over Novak Djokovic and Emma Raducanu appeared first on Tennis365.
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