Alcaraz blames 'demanding sport' for Madrid withdrawal but should be fit for French Open

MADRID (AP) — Home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open on Thursday because of muscle injuries, saying he didn't want to risk making things worse before the French Open.

The third-ranked Spaniard blamed his injuries on the “really tight" schedule that is part of the “demanding sport” of tennis.

Alcaraz said he has not fully recovered from the upper leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final last Sunday. He also said he has a left leg injury. His first appearance at the Caja Magica in Madrid was scheduled for Saturday.

Alcaraz is a two-time champion in Madrid, having won in 2022 and 2023. He was the second seed this week and in the same half of the draw as Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz said he did “everything possible to play” but had to make the “tough decision” to withdraw after listening to his body and talking to doctors.

“Madrid is one of the special tournaments for me, it’s a tournament that I enjoy, I get to play in front of my fans, it’s one of the first tournaments I attended when I was a kid,” Alcaraz said. “These types of decisions are not easy to make but sometimes you have to think about your health and about what is important. A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. If I play here, I could make the injuries worse and stop for several months and that’s not worth it.”

He said he felt “secure” about recovering in time to play next month at Roland Garros, where he is the defending champion. He won the Roland Garros final last year against Alexander Zverev, who has just leapfrogged the Spaniard to No. 2 in the world after winning in Munich last week.

“I’m not really worried about it,” Alcaraz said. “I believe it’s going to take one week, one week and a half, two weeks maximum, but I won’t have doubts about coming back and moving 100% again.”

He said he plans to play in Rome ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 25.

“My mindset is to do everything it takes to be a hundred percent for Rome. I will do some tests at the beginning of next week just to see how it’s improved, and from that let’s see how it’s going to be the next days,” he said. “My hope is to play in Rome. If not, next tournament is Roland Garros for me. So I will try to be on court as soon as possible.”

Alcaraz needed treatment on his leg during his straight-set loss to Holger Rune in the Barcelona final. He had not practiced in Madrid yet, and said this week that he felt “fine” but was waiting on medical test results to determine whether he would play.

Alcaraz, who will turn 22 on May 5, won in Monte Carlo to start his clay-court campaign and on a nine-match winning run until the Barcelona final. He said he later also felt pain in a muscle in his left leg.

Alcaraz vowed to “come back stronger” but complained of the tennis schedule.

“Tennis is really a demanding sport,” he said. "Playing week after week, so many matches in a row, and you have to heal your body sometimes and take difficult decisions."

The four-time Grand Slam champion has a 24-5 record this year. In addition to Monte Carlo, he also won in Rotterdam on hard court in February.

“The schedule is really tight, really difficult tournaments week after week, and sometimes you have to think about yourself sometimes, and make the right decisions as to your health.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, poses during the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, Spain, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, poses during the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid, Spain, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

New Jersey Transit urged riders to reach their destinations before the end of the day Thursday or risk being stranded as last-minute talks continued in a bid to avert a rail strike by train engineers that would affect some 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City.

The labor dispute is stressing out some Manhattan commuters and already disrupting travel to Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Amid the uncertainty over whether the strike would happen, the transit agency canceled train and bus service at the stadium.

The system's advisory provided riders with details on contingency plans that would take effect if engineers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday. The agency plans to increase bus service, saying it would add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.

However, the agency noted that the buses would not be able to handle close to the same number of passengers — only about 20% of current rail customers — so it is has urged people who can work from home to do so if there is a strike.

NJ Transit — the nation’s third largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. A walkout would halt all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City’s Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.

Wages have been the main sticking point of the negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The union says its members earn an average salary of $113,000 a year and says an agreement could be reached if agency CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average yearly salary of $170,000.

NJ Transit leadership, though, disputes the union’s data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000.

If the walkout happens, it would be the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years. It comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.

The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington to discuss the dispute, but both sides and the board have declined to comment on whether any progress has been made in subsequent talks this week.

An electronic display advises commuters of NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An electronic display advises commuters of potential NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An electronic display advises commuters of NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An NJ Transit train pulls into the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An electronic display advises commuters of potential NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)