"When I was in my best shape during the offseason, I injured myself by making a wrong move during training," said the Spaniard on his Twitter account, hitting a muscle in his right leg.

"I had worked very hard to get to my best level in Australia," continued the 19-year-old.

"Unfortunately, I will not be able to participate in the Kooyong tournament or the Australian Open", scheduled from January 16 to 29.

The Major des Antipodes said he was "sorry" for not being able to welcome this year the Spanish prodigy who was eliminated in the third round last year by the Italian Matteo Berrettini in the tie break of the fifth set.

For its first participation in 2021, Alcaraz had passed the three qualifying rounds and had reached the second round of the main draw.

"We wish you a speedy recovery. See you soon on the courts," the Australian Open tweeted.

"It's a tough time to get through, but I have to stay optimistic, recover and look forward. We'll see each other in 2024 Australian Open," Alcaraz concludes.

N.1 place in play

He became the youngest world No.1 since the creation of the ATP ranking in 1973 by winning the US Open last September, his first Grand Slam tournament, at the age of 19.

He became a few months later the youngest player in history to finish the year at the top of the world hierarchy.

But an abdominal tear forced him to retire in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Paris in November, forcing him to end his season prematurely.

He had thus not been able to participate in the Masters at the end of the year in Turin, nor then in the Davis Cup in Malaga.

© Ryan Lim / AFP/Archives

And his absence in Australia could cost him his place as N.1: Djokovic but also Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas are within range.

His return to Melbourne was expected in particular with a view to a possible duel with Novak Djokovic, the best player on hard court (nine titles at the Australian Open and three at the US Open) who had not been able to participate. last year at the Australian Open, nor at Flushing Meadows, because of his refusal of the anti-covid vaccine.

This time, the Serb will be there, but not the Spaniard.

So much so that the young guard of world tennis loses one of its key weapons in its takeover against former Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, defending champion.

Between them, Djokovic and Nadal have won eleven of the last fifteen Australian Opens and 43 of the last 70 Grand Slam tournaments.

And for the third time in the last five Grand Slam tournaments, a Major will be deprived of the world No.1: in 2022, Djokovic could not play the Australian Open for lack of a vaccine against covid and Daniil Medvedev had been refused at Wimbledon because of his Russian nationality.

Despite the absence of Alcaraz, the games are not made for Djokovic and Nadal: finalist of the last two editions of the Australian Major, beaten in 2021 by Djokovic and 2022 by Nadal, Medvedev will aim at 26 for his second Grand Slam title ( after the US Open 2021), while Jannik Sinner (21) and Félix Auger-Aliassime (22), who matured in 2022, will try, like Stefanos Tsitsipas (24), to win their first Major.

© 2023 AFP