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Wimbledon's mounting absences are casting a shadow over the tournament

Hopefully, not much more.
Carlos Alcaraz wipes his face in his player's chair during a changeover
Carlos Alcaraz wipes his face in his player's chair during a changeover | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Wimbledon 2026, just like this year's French Open, will feel somewhat diminished without Carlos Alcaraz. Not that the major won't be great, because it's guaranteed to be, but a final that could once again feature the Spaniard against Jannik Sinner is what every tournament secretly wants.

Due to a wrist injury, though, Alcaraz was forced to withdraw weeks before the grass-court major was set to begin. Fans aren't stunned that the ATP No. 2 will miss the Grand Slam, but that doesn't mean his absence won't be as keenly felt.

Alcaraz isn't the only high-end player to miss Wimbledon, though. Lorenzo Musetti is the latest, as of this writing, to be forced out of the major. He was injured at the French Open with a thigh issue. His timeline for returning to tennis is not yet known, just as Alcaraz's isn't.

List of those players being forced to miss Wimbledon 2026 continues to grow

On the WTA side, Victoria Mboko will miss the grass-court major, too. She hurt her knee at the HSBC Championships in singles, causing her to have to withdraw from that event in singles and doubles. She was scheduled to keep playing with Serena Williams in Williams' comeback. The two were supposed to play at Wimbledon as well.

Instead, Serena Williams will play with her sister, Venus, in a doubles partnership that fans will watch closely. Mboko and Serena would have likely formed a formidable duo, too. That will have to wait, and the Canadian could be out for quite a while with the knee problem.

ATP players missing the event:

  • Carlos Alcaraz (No. 2) – replaced by Jan Choinski
  • Lorenzo Musetti (No. 15)
  • Valentin Vacherot (No. 20) – replaced by Sho Shimabukuro
  • Arthur Cazaux (No. 81) – replaced by Alex Molcan

WTA players missing the event:

  • Victoria Mboko (No. 9) – replaced by Darja Vidmanova
  • Hailey Baptiste (No. 30) – replaced by Hanne Vandewinkel
  • Varvara Gracheva (No. 71) – replaced Sinja Kraus
  • Sonay Kartal (No. 72) – replaced by Paula Badosa

The list of those having to miss Wimbledon because of injuries or illness will probably grow a bit, though there might not be many more top-20-ranked players who miss the tournament. Jannik Sinner, who won the 2025 edition, will return, for instance. So will last year's ladies' winner, Iga Swiatek.

Wimbledon begins on Monday, June 29. The women's final will be held on Saturday, July 11. The men's final will follow the next day on Sunday, July 12.

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