Carlos Alcaraz recently opened up about pulling out of the Barcelona Open 2024 due to an injury on his right arm. Notably, the same injury had forced him to skip the Monte-Carlo Masters a few days ago.

Alcaraz entered the Barcelona draw as the first seed and two-time defending champion but announced his withdrawal on Monday, April 15, saying:

“I won’t be able to play in Barcelona. The pain started in the first practice session in Monte-Carlo. I took a test on Saturday morning, which produced some positive images. But Sunday was the litmus test for us. It was the first day I hit forehands after the practice session in Monte-Carlo and… I could feel it again.” (via ATP)

A couple of days later, Alcaraz lamented the situation that disrupted his friends’ and family’s plans for the ATP 500 event.

“It’s been a hard blow for me. A bad moment because I really wanted to come here to Barcelona. My group of friends had already done everything to be able to come here, to see me play. Except here in Barcelona and Madrid, they never see me, and part of my family as well, people very close to me,” the 20-year-old told La Vinguardia. (translated)

The Spaniard suggested that a home tournament like the Barcelona Open is the most awaited event on his calendar.

“Obviously playing in our country, play here in Barcelona, in this Conde de Godo, it is a super special tournament. I was really looking forward to it and I practically wait a whole year to get here and be able to play. It was complicated,” Carlos Alcaraz added.

Carlos Alcaraz: “I never cry for missing some tournament for having an injury… but yesterday was hard”

During the same conversation with La Vinguardia, Carlos Alcaraz admitted to feeling deeply hurt after realizing that he wouldn’t be able to smash forehands on the courts at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona this year.

“The truth is that I never cry for this, on the sports topic, for missing some tournament for having an injury because in the end I see it as normal and I always try to bring out the positive things, but yesterday was hard,” the Spaniard said.

The two-time Grand Slam champion first won the Barcelona Open in 2022 by defeating compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-2 in the final. He then defended his title the following year with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the summit clash.