Carlos Alcaraz has confirmed that he will be unable to defend his French Open crown next month due to a wrist injury he sustained at the Barcelona Open. 

Alcaraz, who claimed his second title at Roland-Garros last year after coming out on top in a five-set epic with Jannik Sinner, made the announcement on Thursday. 

The seven-time grand slam winner was forced to withdraw from his second-round clash with Tomas Machac in Barcelona after injuring his right wrist against Otto Virtanen. 

As a result, the Spaniard was forced to pull out of the ongoing Madrid Open, where he is a two-time winner, and will now watch the second major of 2026 from the sidelines. 

"After the results of the tests carried out today, we have decided that the most prudent thing is to be cautious and not participate in Rome and Roland Garros, while we wait to assess the evolution to decide when we will return to the court," Alcaraz said in a statement on social media. 

"It's a complicated moment for me, but I'm sure we'll come out stronger from here."

Alcaraz was looking to become only the third player, after compatriot Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg, to win the French Open in three consecutive years since the tournament became a grand slam event back in 1946. 

The 22-year-old did not specify a date for his return to the court, but his withdrawal has now handed Sinner a huge chance of following in Alcaraz's footsteps and completing the career grand slam. 

During his second triumph at Roland-Garros in 2025, Alcaraz became only the third player in the Open Era to win a men's singles grand slam final after having saved match point(s) after Gaston Gaudio (Roland-Garros 2004) and Novak Djokovic (Wimbledon 2019).

The five-hour and 29-minute epic was also the longest men's singles final at Roland-Garros in the Open Era, surpassing the previous record held by Mats Wilander and Guillermo Vilas in 1982, which lasted four hours and 42 minutes.