Madrid Open Rosters Decimated as 27 High-Profile Tennis Stars Withdraw Amid Injury and Illness Crisis

The Madrid Open faces a crisis as 27 stars, including Alcaraz, Djokovic, and Keys, withdraw from the tournament due to injuries and illness.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 25, 2026, 4:00 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Tennis365

A Major Blow to the Women’s Main Draw

The WTA field at the Madrid Open has been significantly weakened following a surge of last-minute departures from top-tier talent. Madison Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion, became one of the most recent high-profile names to exit the competition. Despite traveling to Spain and being seen on the practice courts at Caja Magica, Keys was forced to withdraw just hours before her scheduled second-round match due to an undisclosed illness. Her absence brought the total number of WTA withdrawals to 14, highlighting a growing trend of physical setbacks among the tour's top athletes this spring.

Lucky Losers Capitalize on Vacated Slots

The vacancy left by Madison Keys provided a critical opening for Austria’s Anastasia Potapova, who entered the draw as a lucky loser. Potapova demonstrated the depth of the field by defeating China’s Zhang Shuai in a commanding 6-3, 6-1 performance to advance into the third round. This trend of replacements has become a recurring theme in Madrid, with Panna Udvardy and Viktorija Golubic also stepping in for top seeds like Amanda Anisimova and Karolina Muchova. These substitutions have altered the competitive landscape, providing lower-ranked players with rare opportunities to secure ranking points in a prestigious 1000-level event.

Elite Absences Destabilize the ATP Field

On the men’s side, the tournament suffered two massive setbacks with the loss of its most prominent figures. Local favorite and seven-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz was forced to concede his spot due to a persistent wrist injury sustained in Barcelona. This news followed closely behind the announcement from tennis legend Novak Djokovic, who also opted to skip the event. These withdrawals, coupled with the absence of seeded players like Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, have left the ATP draw without several of its primary title contenders, shifting the pressure onto the remaining top seeds to uphold the tournament's prestige.