Carlos Alcaraz withdraws from the 2023 Australian Open

According to Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press on Friday, world number one Carlos Alcaraz of El Palmar, Spain will miss the 2023 Australian Open because of a right leg injury. This was the second significant injury for Alcaraz in the last couple of months. The 19-year-old teenage phenom who won the 2022 United States Open, needed to withdraw from the 2022 ATP Cup because of an oblique muscle.

This time it appears Alcaraz injured his leg during training. Alcaraz has missed time during the last two fall seasons over the last two years. In 2021, he tested positive for Coronavirus and was unavailable to participate in the Davis Cup.

The withdrawal of Alcaraz will mean the number one seed at the Australian Open will be another Spaniard–36-year-old Rafael Nadal of Manacor. Nadal has won two Australian Open titles in the past–in 2009 and 2022. During the 2022 Australian Open, Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev of Russia 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. In all, Nadal has won 22 grand slam titles, the most of all-time.

Alcaraz was the ATP Player of the Year and the ATP Most Improved Player. He was honoured despite the fact he only won one major, compared to the two major titles Nadal won. (Nadal also won the 2022 French Open). In addition to winning the US Open last year, Alcaraz won the Rio Open, the Miami Open, the Barcelona Open, and Madrid Open.

Alcaraz becomes the second tennis player over the last week to withdraw from the Australian Open because of an injury. The other was Reilly Opelka of the United States. 

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