Carlos Alcaraz – currently injured himself – has blamed a heartless ATP tournament schedule for causing Jannik Sinner to pull the plug on his 2026 season due to a lingering knee injury.

Former No. 1 Alcaraz, currently ranked third behind Sinner and 2026 double Grand Slam champion Alexander Zverev, is skipping the ongoing Shanghai Masters with a left knee injury picked up during his recent Japan Open title win.

Players are making their voices heard over the Tour rewrite of the calendar which began last season, stretching formerly one-week Masters up 10-13 days in a blatant cash grab designed to please sponsors.

The result, the Spaniard said, is now showing up as frequent injury absences and tournament pullouts.

The Shanghai event is now missing for Sinner and Alcaraz, both wildly popular in China.

“One of the reasons we have to see the players who are getting injured, I think they (are) pushing us too much out of the line sometimes to play a lot of tournaments, to play a lot of matches,” he complained directly to the Tour’s website.

“This is getting in the wrong direction.” 

The seven-time Grand Slam winner said that the absence of Sinner due to his knee and due to last for six months in total, is but one poor outcome of the controversial elongation of tournaments, with oddball mid-week starts and finishes.

“I just wish Jannik the best for these months just to be in a good shape for the next season. Hopefully we’ll see him soon. But I think they (ATP) have to see a little bit what’s going on, on the Tour and with the players.”

Main photo:- Jannik SInner and Carlos Alcaraz contested Monte Carlo Open 2026
by International Sports Fotos Ltd

Novak Djokovic on Friday staked his claim on a spot in the ATP Finals after losing his opening match at the Shanghai Masters.

The winner of the Beijing title for a record seventh time, went down quickly in Shanghai to polish giant Hubi Hurkacz 6-4, 6-3 in 88 minutes.

The 39-year-old Djokovic showed the accumulated fatigue of nearly two weeks on court in Beijing as he took the defeat in the country’s commercial capital.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion currently holds the provisional eighth and final spot in the field due to the early season end for injured world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

But to assure himself a return to the year-end field, the veteran Serb knows he must play the Paris Indoors the first week of November,

“I’m planning only to play in Paris or, let’s see. Hopefully, I can have a good result there,” he said as he left the court in Shanghai.

“Beijing was great. A very early exit here, but it’s okay. I’ve had a great week in Beijing, and I look forward to resting a little bit and getting ready for indoor (play).”

Hurkacz, who has missed months over the past few seasons with a knee operation and recovery, becomes only  the fourth man to defeat the iconic Big 3 on their personal preferred surfaces.

He has knocked out Djokovic on hard, Rafael Nadal on clay, and Roger Federer on grass, joining fellow spoilers Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.

The Shanghai Masters has suffered a second box office blow with Carlos Alcaraz pulling out injured from the Asian showpiece.

Alcaraz revealed that he suffered a left ankle injury in his opening match in Tokyo just over a week ago.

The Spaniard who won the Tokyo title this week joined world No. 1 Jannik Sinner on the sidelines in China’s commercial capital.  

World No. 2 Alexander Zverev is the only member of the ranking top three to be involved in Shanghai with the race to the eight-man year-end finals next month in Turin tightening.

Sinner ended his season this week in hopes of avoiding surgery on a knee injury which has kept him off court since winning Wimbledon nearly three months ago.

The all-star pair may be paying the physical price for the ATP cash grab – extending most Masters events from the normal week to a bloated 12-13-days,

Alcaaz showed no signs of the ankle problem during his winning run in Tokyo, but apparently did not want to risk further by testing it in China.

“I’m very disappointed to announce that I won’t be able to play the Rolex Shanghai Masters this year!” Alcaraz posted on social media.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been struggling with some physical issues and, after discussing with my team, we believe the best decision is to rest and recover. 

“I was really looking forward to playing in front of the amazing fans in Shanghai again. I hope to be back soon and see my Chinese fans next year!”

The No. 3 leads the Tour with 67 match wins this season, including three titles.

Main photo:-Carlos Alcaraz playing in Shanghai in 2023.