MADRID OPEN HIT BY 17 MAJOR WITHDRAWALS, INCLUDING WORLD STARS CARLOS ALCARAZ AND DJOKOVIC
The Madrid Open field is decimated! With 17 players out, including Alcaraz, Djokovic, and Raducanu, see the full list.
The list of players dropping out of the 2026 Madrid Open has jumped to 17, covering both the women’s and men’s singles draws.
By Saturday, 13 players had already withdrawn. The biggest names? Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.
Since then, four more women have pulled out, including Grand Slam champs Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Raducanu.
Madrid hosts the first clay-court WTA 1000 of the season and the second ATP Masters 1000 on clay after Monte Carlo. Both tournaments in Madrid have 96-player draws and 32 seeds, who get a first-round bye.
The women’s main draw kicks off Tuesday, and the men’s starts Wednesday. The women’s final is set for Saturday, May 2, and the men wrap things up on Sunday, May 3. Aryna Sabalenka and Casper Ruud won the singles titles last year.
Here’s a closer look at the withdrawals:
ATP Madrid Open withdrawals
Alcaraz, ranked No. 2 in the world and a two-time Madrid champion, misses out again after hurting his wrist in Barcelona. He sat out Madrid last year as well.
World No. 4 Djokovic, who’s won Madrid three times, is out as he recovers from a shoulder injury. The Serb has played only two events this year.
Taylor Fritz, yet to play a clay match in 2026, is the other ATP top-10 player stepping aside.
Here’s the full ATP withdrawal list:
Carlos Alcaraz (world No. 2) – replaced by Sebastian Ofner
Novak Djokovic (world No. 4) – replaced by Adam Walton
Taylor Fritz (world No. 8) – replaced by Roberto Bautista Agut
Holger Rune (world No. 27) – replaced by Francisco Comesana
Sebastian Korda (world No. 43) – replaced by Alexander Shevchenko
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (world No. 53) – replaced by Alexandre Muller
Arthur Cazaux (world No. 71) – replaced by Alexander Blockx
Kamil Majchrzak (world No. 73) – replaced by Thiago Agustin Tirante
WTA Madrid Open withdrawals
Reports say Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champ and absent since Indian Wells, is out. Barbora Krejcikova, another major winner, is withdrawing too, alongside Sara Bejlek and McCartney Kessler.
Here’s the current WTA withdrawal list:
Emma Navarro (world No. 27) – replaced by Ashlyn Krueger
Emma Raducanu (world No. 29) – replaced by Ajla Tomljanovic
Maya Joint (world No. 30) – replaced by Moyuka Uchijima.
Sara Bejlek (world No. 34) – replaced by Viktorija Golubic
McCartney Kessler (world No. 48) – replaced by Kamilla Rakhimova
Barbora Krejcikova (world No. 52) – replaced by Zeynep Sonmez
Sonay Kartal (world No. 55) – replaced by Petra Marcinko
Varvara Gracheva (world No. 59) – replaced by Eva Lys
Veronika Kudermetova (world No. 62) – replaced by Taylor Townsend
WHY DID 22 PLAYERS SUDDENLY WITHDRAW FROM THE 2026 ITALIAN OPEN MID-TOURNAMENT?
Discover the full list of injured stars, including Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, forced out of the 2026 Italian Open.
At the 2026 Italian Open, the number of players who have withdrawn or retired during matches has climbed to 22, spanning both the ATP and WTA competitions.
By midweek, 17 players had already exited the combined ATP/WTA 1000 event in Rome. Since then, an additional three men and two women have followed suit.
Before the draws were even announced on Monday, prominent names like Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Jack Draper, and Marketa Vondrousova had pulled out. On the opening day of the women’s tournament, Tuesday, Marta Kostyuk and Emma Raducanu also withdrew.
Amanda Anisimova, ranked sixth in the WTA, stepped back before her first match on Thursday due to a left wrist injury. Meanwhile, Victoria Mboko, who is ninth in the world, withdrew before playing on Friday because of a gastrointestinal illness.
Valentin Vacherot, the 16th-ranked player on the ATP tour, pulled out shortly before his scheduled second-round match against Marin Cilic on Friday, citing a foot injury.
Tomas Machac, holding the 41st spot in the men's rankings, also withdrew ahead of his second-round encounter with Daniil Medvedev after an impactful win against Stefanos Tsitsipas in round one.
Arthur Fils, ranked 17th, retired during his opening match against Andrea Pellegrino on Saturday, trailing 0-4, due to hip pain.
Here’s a rundown of the withdrawals on the ATP side: Carlos Alcaraz (No. 2) was replaced by Sebastian Ofner; Taylor Fritz (No. 7) by Zachary Svajda; Valentin Vacherot (No. 16) by Martin Landaluce; Arthur Rinderknech (No. 24) by Aleksandar Kovacevic; Holger Rune (No. 40) by Damir Dzumhur; Gabriel Diallo (No. 46) by Alexander Blockx; Jack Draper (No. 50) by Hamad Medjedovic; Raphael Collignon (No. 68) by Alexandre Muller; Reilly Opelka (No. 74) by Aleksandar Vukic; Arthur Cazaux (No. 73) by Mattia Bellucci; Kamil Majchrzak (No. 76) by Roberto Bautista Agut; and Eliot Spizzirri (No. 92) by James Duckworth.
On the WTA side, Amanda Anisimova (No. 6) was replaced by Elena Gabriela Ruse from Romania; Victoria Mboko (No. 9) by Nikola Bartunkova; Marta Kostyuk (No. 15) by Ajla Tomljanovic; Emma Raducanu (No. 30) by Lilli Tagger; Marketa Vondrousova (No. 44) by Solana Sierra; Sonay Kartal (No. 56) by Zeynep Sonmez; Varvara Gracheva (No. 61) by Eva Lys; and Veronika Kudermetova (No. 70) by Petra Marcinko.
THE "REST OVER REPS" PLAN: WHY JANNIK SINNER IS SNUBBING HALLE FOR WIMBLEDON
After 23 consecutive wins, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner adjusts his schedule to target a Career Grand Slam and Wimbledon glory.
Jannik Sinner has already logged a heavy schedule this year, with deep runs in recent Masters 1000 tournaments keeping him on court against top-tier competition regularly. Given this demanding stretch, he’s taken a fresh look at his calendar and decided to skip the Halle Open, carving out a three-week break between Roland Garros and his Wimbledon title defence.
The 2024 Wimbledon champion won’t be heading to Germany for the grass-court event. That’s notable since Sinner claimed that Wimbledon crown in impressive fashion, overcoming two-time winner Carlos Alcaraz to secure his first major title away from hardcourts. That victory was his latest Grand Slam, following Alcaraz’s wins at the previous two majors.
After Roland Garros, where he seeks to complete the career Grand Slam, Sinner plans to recharge rather than pile on more tournaments before Wimbledon. Without Alcaraz in sight, he’s considered a favourite to maintain his remarkable run. His recent haul includes titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and, most recently, Madrid. Now, he’s setting his sights on Rome, his home turf, where he’s never clinched a win but is eager to continue an ambitious streak of Masters 1000 victories, aiming for a sixth in a row.
Post-Rome, he’ll take a week off before the French Open begins. In total, Sinner has played 23 matches over the last two months without tasting defeat. If he wants to lift the Rome trophy, he’ll need to notch six more wins, then potentially battle through seven more rounds in Paris. This demanding schedule partly explains his choice to forgo Halle.
As for the 2026 Halle Open, fans might be disappointed not to see the world number one, but the field remains strong. Heading the draw is Alexander Zverev, a local favourite who has yet to claim a grass-court title or even one on home soil. With Sinner out, this could be a prime opportunity for Zverev to break through.
The American players are also well represented. The U.S. hasn’t seen a finalist here since Mardy Fish in 2004, but Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton might be poised to change that, especially Fritz, who has already shown grass prowess with titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne last year.
Defending champion Alexander Bublik, who ousted Sinner on his way to victory and took down Daniil Medvedev in the final, will be back aiming to repeat. Alongside him, names like Andrey Rublev, Flavio Cobolli, and Frances Tiafoe are also set to compete. The tournament runs from June 15 to 21, promising plenty of exciting tennis.
