Tennis roundup – Alcaraz waves goodbye to Paris, Tsitsipas’ tirade against father, Eala falls in Madrid
As the Madrid Open continues to gather pace, shockwaves were sent through the tennis world after Carlos Alcaraz announced he would withdraw from both the Italian Open and French Open – tournaments he won 12 months ago.
In other news, Alexandra Eala suffered a straight-sets defeat in her second-round match in the Spanish capital, leading to ranking implications. Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a nail-biting contest against Patrick Kypson, but not before launching an expletive-laden tirade at his father.
Here are some of the top tennis stories from Friday.
Alcaraz says goodbye to Rome and Paris
Alcaraz took to social media to confirm he will not participate in the Italian Open or French Open after suffering a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open.
He had been aiming to defend both titles – a second in Rome and a third in Paris – but, as the reigning champion at both events, he is set to drop 3,000 ranking points.
“We wait to assess the progress in order to decide when we will return to the court,” said Alcaraz during his withdrawal post on social media.
“It’s a complicated moment for me, but I’m sure we will come out of this stronger.”
It remains unclear whether the Spaniard will be fit in time for the upcoming grass-court season.
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Tsitsipas launches tirade at father during victory
2019 finalist Tsitsipas got his Madrid campaign under way in dramatic fashion, defeating Kypson 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4).
The Greek had been struggling for form, losing his previous three matches, including a tight three-set defeat in Munich last week.
During the contest, he received multiple coaching warnings and was forced to concede a point.
As a result, he launched an angry outburst towards his coaching box – specifically his father.
These included “Bastard, you piece of s***”, “Go f*** yourself, imbecile”, “F*** off” and “stupid”.
Eala dispatched in disappointing Madrid result
On Wednesday, Eala began her Madrid Open campaign with a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
However, the Filipina was unable to replicate that form in her next match against No. 19 seed Elise Mertens.
The Belgian proved too strong, winning 6-2, 6-1 in just one hour and 17 minutes.
Having also reached the second round in 2025, Eala will neither gain nor drop ranking points from her run in the Spanish capital.
She will now look to pick up valuable points at the upcoming WTA 125 event, Open Internacional Femení Solgironès, taking place from 27 April to 3 May.
READ: Madrid Open: Alex Eala’s ranking points and prize money from WTA 1000 event
Murray says Djokovic ‘learned nothing’ from collaboration
Long-time rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic first teamed up in a player-coach relationship in late 2024, ahead of the following season.
After reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open – including a win over No. 2 seed Alcaraz – the partnership initially appeared promising.
However, the pair split after just five tournaments together, with Djokovic yet to appoint a full-time coach since.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Brit quipped that his former rival had ‘learned nothing’ from their partnership, though he still backed his chances of winning a 25th Grand Slam.
