Injuries rattle ATP as Daniil Medvedev retires from Madrid Open QF; joins Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner on injured list ahead of French Open 2024

Daniil Medvedev retired from his quarterfinal clash against Jiri Lehecka at the 2024 Madrid Open with an injury, adding to the list of injured players on the ATP side ahead of the French Open.

Medvedev suffered an injury to his groin during the first set against Lehecka on Thursday and called for the physio. After an off-court medical time-out, the Russian took the court again.

The World No. 4 was visibly struggling during the rest of the games as he told the physio that he was "scared" about exacerbating the injury.

"I'm feeling (a bit) better. But I'm so, so scared," Medvedev was heard saying.

After losing the set 6-4, Daniil Medvedev decided to throw in the towel. With the win, Lehecka booked his spot in the semifinals of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. Up next, he takes on Felix Auger-Aliassime, who reached the semifinals without stepping on court for his quarterfinal clash with Jannik Sinner.

Sinner, having suffered a hip injury in Madrid this fortnight, withdrew ahead of his battle against the Canadian, keeping in mind his home tournament at the Italian Open next week before the French Open.

Another big ATP star on the injured list is World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz played at the Madrid Open while nursing a forearm injury, which had previously ruled him out of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open.

The Spaniard fell in the quarterfinals to Andrey Rublev and said afterwards that he was not sure about playing in the tournament at the start of last week.

"A day before starting I didn't know if I could compete and I went almost a week without hitting a forehand. My first training session hitting forehands was against [Daniil] Medvedev 24 hours after starting my participation," Alcaraz said.

"It is clear that, once I hit the court, I won't, I don't like losing at all, but I consider this week very positive because I have been able to play four games at a high intensity," he added.

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Daniil Medvedev is the defending champion at next week's Italian Open

Daniil Medvedev (left)

The injury could not have come at a worse time for Daniil Medvedev, as he's the defending champion at the Italian Open next week. The Russian won his maiden clay title in Rome last year, beating Holger Rune in the final.

Unfortunately, he could not capitalize on that momentum at the French Open, suffering a shock defeat to Thiago Seyboth Wild in the first round. Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, reached the semifinals in Roland Garros, while Jannik Sinner exited in the second round.