Madrid Open withdrawals: 13 stars out as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz join growing list
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are the highest-profile players to withdraw from the Madrid Open, but the list continues to grow with a few more players likely to join them before the tournament gets underway.
The joint ATP-WTA 1000 event in the Spanish capital starts on 21 April with the women’s first-round matches before the men kick off their campaign the following day.
Casper Ruud is the defending champion as he won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title 12 months ago when he defeated Jack Draper in the final on the clay at Caja Magica while Aryna Sabalenka won her third title in Madrid with victory over Coco Gauff.
But tournament organisers have suffered a couple of devastating blows as two-time champion and local hero Alcaraz won’t be in the main draw as he has been sidelined by an arm injury he sustained at the Barcelona Open.
Alcaraz was going to be the big drawcard for Spaniards, but he will now miss the tournament for the second consecutive year and his withdrawal came just hours after tennis great Djokovic also confirmed he won’t participate.
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Djokovic, a three-time winner of the Madrid Open, announced, “I’m continuing my recovery” with the number of ATP stars to pull out currently sitting at eight.
Jannik Sinner is set to be the top seed, although there are still doubts over his participation, and he will be followed by Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton, according to the latest Live Rankings.
ATP Madrid Open withdrawal list
- Carlos Alcaraz (world No 2) – replaced by Sebastian Ofner
- Novak Djokovic (world No 4) – replaced by Adam Walton
- Taylor Fritz (world No 8) – replaced by Roberto Bautista Agut
- Holger Rune (world No 27) – replaced by Francisco Comesana
- Sebastian Korda (world No 43) – replaced by Alexander Shevchenko
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (world No 53) – replaced by Alexandre Muller
- Arthur Cazaux (world No 71) – replaced by Alexander Blockx
- Kamil Majchrzak (world No 73) – replaced by Thiago Agustin Tirante
2025 runner-up Draper is another player who could miss the tournament as he was forced to retire from his first-round match at Barcelona due to a knee injury.
WTA Madrid Open withdrawal list
The WTA main draw remains strong as the top 20 players are still on the entry list as Sabalenka is set to defend her title with Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula completing the top five.
Emma Navarro and Maya Joint are so far the only two seeded players who have withdrawn from the first clay-court WTA 1000 event of the 2026 season.
- Emma Navarro (world No 27) – replaced by Ashlyn Krueger
- Maya Joint (world No 30) – replaced by Moyuka Uchijima
- Sonay Kartal (world No 55) – replaced by Petra Marcinko
- Varvara Gracheva (world No 59) – replaced by Eva Lys
- Veronika Kudermetova (world No 62) – replaced by Taylor Townsend
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, currently at No 42 in the rankings, is also set to join the list as she has been charged by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) with refusing a doping test.
The Czech has not played any WTA Tour events since January, but her withdrawal is yet to be confirmed by organisers.
