Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz was on Friday pulled out of the Australian Open with a proper foot harm.
The 19-year-old Spaniard wrote on social media that he was “injured by an accidental, unnatural movement during training”.
The first Grand Slam match of the yr begins at Melbourne Park from 16 January. The draw is subsequent Thursday.
When I used to be at my greatest in pre-season, I obtained injured on one event, by way of unnatural motion in coaching. This time it is the semimembranosus muscle in my proper leg. pic.twitter.com/nJbIlMtGyK
— Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) January 6, 2023
Alcaraz received the US Open final September and reached the highest of the ATP rankings. This allowed him to develop into the youngest man to complete a season at No. 1 since computerized males’s tennis rankings have been launched half a century earlier.
His rise from No. 32 to No. 1 on the finish of 2021 marked the largest single-season soar.
However, that is his second important setback in current months. Alcaraz reduce final season quick in November after tearing an belly muscle whereas competing within the Paris Masters. This pressured him to withdraw from the ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals.
Nevertheless, he ended 2022 with a 57–13 file and 5 singles titles.
“I have worked very hard to reach my best for Australia, but unfortunately I will not be able to play,” Alcaraz wrote on Twitter.
“It’s tough, but I have to be optimistic, recover and look forward,” he mentioned.
With Alcaraz out, No. 2 Rafael Nadal – the defending champion in Australia and proprietor of a males’s file 22 Grand Slam titles – will transfer to No. 1 within the seedings for the hard-court match.
The Spaniard turned the primary participant from the identical nation since Americans Pete Sampras and Michael Chang in 1996 to say the highest two spots within the ATP on the finish of the season.
Alcaraz’s departure additionally removes a possible hurdle for Novak Djokovic as he returns to Australia and seeks to win it for the tenth time to say what can be his twenty second main championship general. Djokovic missed the 2022 Australian Open after being deported from the nation as a result of he had not been vaccinated towards COVID-19. He nonetheless hasn’t been vaccinated, however restrictions have been eased.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
