Carlos Alcaraz's season was supposed to end at the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna this week, but the world No. 1 had to pull out of the competition due to a hamstring injury sustained during the final of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin against Jannik Sinner.
The young Spanish ace who played an excellent tournament in Turin guaranteeing the mathematical certainty of remaining at the top of the ATP ranking until the end of the year hoped that his issue would not be so serious and went to Bologna, but the response of the MRI he underwent was not so positive and the six-time Grand Slam champion preferred not to take risks. The 22-year-old from Murcia was particularly sad on his way home, as he wanted to help his team in this edition of the Davis Cup, but at the same time he made the correct decision to avoid jeopardizing his future.
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The truth is that Carlitos doesn't have much time to rest before the start of the pre-season, as he will also be the protagonist of two exhibition matches in the United States early next month. Specifically, he will face American star Frances Tiafoe and Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca in December.
Alcaraz had an injury
In the last few hours, most fans and insiders have begun to wonder how much the injury affected Carlos' performance last Sunday.
Speaking to 'Sky Sports', former ATP ace Tim Henman expressed his honest opinion on this matter: "If I'm honest, I think that issue had an impact on the ATP Finals final. Alcaraz was forced to tweak his game a bit and became more aggressive than usual, ending up making more mistakes. He likes to play aggressively, but I think he wouldn't have adopted that tactic if he hadn't been affected by that injury."
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Carlos' 2026 will begin directly at the Australian Open, but he will also be the protagonist of an exhibition match with his huge rival Jannik Sinner scheduled in Seoul on January 10.
