BREAKING NEWS: Carlos Alcaraz confirms his absence from the Rotterdam tournament

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Carlos Alcaraz has made an important change in his schedule motivated by his spectacular performance at the Open de Australia. A modification in his roadmap that will allow him to enjoy more rest and recovery time after his feat in Melbourne: he will not be participating in the ATP Rotterdam 2026, where he clinched the title last year and was the main star and headliner of the event.

The tournament's organization announced this while Carlos is still in Australian lands. While the young player completes his final commitments with the press and photographers, including the customary champion photoshoot with the trophy, the Dutch event made an early move and announced via social media the withdrawal of its top seed. "Carlos Alcaraz will not defend his title in Rotterdam. The Australian Open champion decided that after his tremendous efforts over the past two weeks, he needs more time to return to action. We wish Carlos a speedy recovery", read the tournament's statement.

A decision that is clearly logical and sensible: the physical toll on the young player's legs has been remarkable and even materialized with cramps during his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev. Carlos emptied the tank in a historic final, with a spot in the Olympus of this sport at stake, and will not return to Spain until mid this week (considering the time zone differences), leaving him with just a couple of days to prepare for a tournament that, as if it were not enough, is played under very different conditions (indoors on hard court and on a rougher surface than the first Slam of the year).

This is not a new circumstance for the Dutch tournament: last year, Jannik Sinner made exactly the same decision after winning the Australian Open. The Italian, who had committed to attending the event led by Richard Krajicek, announced his withdrawal at the same timing as Carlos, citing physical exhaustion after two weeks of intense action. Thus, Rotterdam loses its marquee star for two consecutive years.

Finally, Carlos Alcaraz's schedule will maintain its upcoming commitments and will hardly undergo any changes beyond this absence. The young talent from El Palmar will return to competition at the ATP Doha 2026, where he barely made it to the quarterfinals, losing to Jiri Lehecka. It will be in the week of February 16th, providing him with over a week and a half of preparation before heading to Qatari lands. Perhaps, the main consequence of his absence in Rotterdam will be seen in the rankings: he will lose 500 points, leaving him with 13150 points at the top, still leading by almost 3000 points over a Sinner who will seek to narrow the gap in the next two months of competition.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, ÚLTIMA HORA: Carlos Alcaraz confirma su ausencia del torneo de Rotterdam