Fitness concerns mount for Carlos Alcaraz as Spaniard misses Swiss Indoors Basel with double injury

Carlos Alcaraz will not take part in the 2023 Swiss Indoors Basel due to being down for the count with a couple of injuries.

The ATP 500 tournament will go down from October 21–29, 2023, at the St. Jakobshalle Basel. The hard court event was all set to bring in the big guns, with top-ten players like Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, and Taylor Fritz ready to rock the house.

Unfortunately, according to the tournament's official Instagram account, Carlos Alcaraz will have to sit this one out due to two major injuries.

They shared a post confirming that the Spaniard won't be gracing the tournament since he's dealing with an inflamed sole on his left foot and some trouble in his gluteal muscles.

As luck would have it, Swiss player Stan Wawrinka secured a spot in the main draw as a result, and his wildcard entry was then handed down to Leandro Riedi. The main draw is scheduled to take place on Monday, October 23.

"Injured Alcaraz has to cancel Basel. Stan Wawrinka moves up to the main draw. Alcaraz had to cancel his start at the Swiss Indoors (October 21-29) today due to an injury. According to his doctor’s bulletin, the world number two is suffering from an inflammation of the sole of his left foot and problems in his gluteal muscles," the post read.

"Stan Wawrinka from Vaud is now in the main draw due to a move up in the entry list. The wild card that has become free as a result will be awarded to the Swiss Leandro Riedi," it read further.

Ever since Carlos Alcaraz clinched the SW19 crown by toppling the mighty Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set battle, he could not play his best tennis.

Apart from the Cincinnati Masters, where he went head-to-head with the Serb in the ultimate showdown but unfortunately came up short, the 20-year-old hasn't punched his ticket to the finals of any other tournament. He was recently knocked out in the Shanghai Masters by Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.

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"Carlos Alcaraz has got a great game and an unbelievable future ahead of him" - Roger Federer

Carlos Alcaraz pictured at the 2023 Shanghai Masters

Roger Federer recently said Carlos Alcaraz has a strong game and a promising career ahead of him.

Alcaraz has won six titles this season at Wimbledon, Queen's Club Championships in London, Madrid Open, Barcelona Open, Indian Wells Masters, and Argentina Open.

On the latest episode of the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast, Federer said Alcaraz had a bright future. He also stated that the Spaniard would learn to accept defeats gradually, as he did at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai.

"Alcaraz is great. I mean, look, he's still young and everything that he has achieved is fantastic and also not just on clay or just on hard, you know. But also now winning Wimbledon against Novak in the final, that is that is no joke. I mean, he didn't need to really prove that point, but that's another super asterisk in his CV. Mighty impressive," the 20-time Grand Slam champion said.

"Of course, with Rafa, Novak, myself, and Murray, we all expect now every generation to produce best tennis every single week for some reason, but it's hard to do that. And I think Carlos, he's done as well as he possibly could have so far. And he's going to lose some time to time, like here in Shanghai, but he's doing fantastic. He's got a great game and obviously an unbelievable future ahead of him," he added.