The 2026 Madrid Masters begins on April 22 and is one further step toward the French Open. The Madrid event is held on clay, and most of the high-end players will be at the tournament, which is a great warm-up for Paris. Two key players, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, won't appear in Madrid, however.
Both announced they would be withdrawing on Friday. For Djokovic, he is simply following through on a promise he made a couple of years ago to play fewer tournaments. He no longer cares about reaching No. 1, as he has been there and done that for more weeks than anyone else in ATP history.
What he openly wants to focus on is the Grand Slams and helping Serbia win international competitions. He has nothing else to prove to the greater tennis world after also winning 24 majors, the most in the sport's history.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz withdraw from the 2026 Madrid Masters
In a tweet announcing the news, Djokovic cited that he is still recovering from a right shoulder injury. This ailment has lingered for a while, though one might wonder if the Serbian simply doesn't feel the urge to play in Madrid. No one would blame him.
As for Carlos Alcaraz, he injured his wrist at the Barcelona event, which forced him to withdraw from that event. He was also hurt in the 2025 Barcelona Open and missed the Madrid Masters last year, too. He won't have any points to defend because of missing the 2025 event, but he could still lose ground to ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Tennis fans also don't know how long Alcaraz will be out. Wrist injuries can be long-lasting for players, and even when the Spaniard returns, he might not initially have the power he is used to having.
Sinner also missed Madrid last year while he was serving a three-month suspension for failing two drug tests in 2024 at Indian Wells. This means the Italian has been gobbling up free points with nothing to defend. He increased his points lead over Alcaraz by not even playing this week since Alcaraz pulled out of Barcelona.
Should Sinner win in Madrid, or at least make a deep run in the tournament, his lead will increase quite a bit more. Of course, there is also a chance Jannik Sinner won't play in Madrid either, but chooses to return at his home tournament when the Rome Masters begin on May 5.
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