Carlos Alcaraz is one of many withdrawals from this year’s upcoming Canadian Open.
Alcaraz has not played since losing the Wimbledon final, where he was beaten by rival Jannik Sinner.
The next tournament on his schedule was the Canadian Open, where Sinner and Novak Djokovic had already withdrawn.
Now Alcaraz has officially joined Sinner and Djokovic, with former world number one Andy Roddick explaining why he thinks this has happened.
Andy Roddick thinks he knows why Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Canadian Open
In a social media post confirming his withdrawal, Alcaraz claimed that ‘small muscle issues’ were the reason for his withdrawal from the Masters 1000 event in Toronto.
This is the second consecutive year that Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Canadian Open, missing the tournament last year after the Paris Olympics.
The Canadian Open will be held over 12 days for the first time this year, meaning that there was just over two weeks between the conclusion of Wimbledon and the start of the Toronto tournament.
Alcaraz is one of seven withdrawals from the men’s tournament so far, and the aforementioned Roddick has suggested that top players are more likely to play the Cincinnati Open over the Canadian Open due to the extended schedule.
“I know that we have added a week but they combine them into three weeks,” Roddick said on his podcast. “I do think this is one of the problems with playing every event over the course of 10-12 days.
“It’s easier to commit to two weeks Cincinnati and Montreal and if you play well in one of them then great, than coming over weeks earlier than you were supposed to.
“You are seeing a general trend of everyone loading up during the clay court season, playing a bunch on grass, which they should, something has got to give at some point.
“When you extend the runway further into the summer away from the US Open, I think it makes it an easier no for some of the top players who have had success recently.”
Jon Wertheim says what he finds ‘disappointing’ about Canadian Open withdrawals
Roddick’s co-host and tennis journalist Jon Wertheim weighed into the argument, pointing out the issue on the ATP Tour that Alcaraz’s withdrawal has exposed.
Wertheim spoke about how disappointing it was for both the Toronto tournament and women’s event in Montreal, where Aryna Sabalenka has already withdrawn, but was clear that the blame did not lie with the players.
“These players are not robots and whether or not they got fined and whether or not it get dressed up in a press release or whether it’s a real or a bogus injury, they cannot play at the pace they are asking them to play,” explained Wertheim.
“It is just science. It’s just a force you can’t mess with. We can overlap these 10 and 12 day Masters events. Keep in mind too, it’s an ocean away, it’s brutal conditions, if you lose early you are marooned in a Marriott for 12 days before you get to go to south west Ohio.
“What we are asking for these players you are begging for this and it’s really disappointing if you run the Toronto and Montreal tournaments but I don’t know what people expected to have happened.
“So now we have this massive 1000 event, it spreads over two weeks, and Taylor Fritz might be the only top five player, great job guys.”
The Canadian Open will get underway next week, with Alexander Zverev currently the top seed in the men’s singles tournament, while Coco Gauff headlines the women’s event.
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