5 Players Whose Tennis Careers Were Marred by Wrist Injury

Any injury, if not properly taken care of, can end up ruining a tennis player’s career. And that’s why Carlos Alcaraz, instead of rushing his comeback after injuring his wrist during the 2026 Barcelona Open, decided to withdraw from the French Open and Wimbledon.

Although the wrist is a small part of the body, it plays the biggest role in a tennis player’s career. Because it’s through the wrist, the player hits the ball with the racket. Wrist injuries have not only forced the players to stay on the sidelines but have also hampered their careers.

Here are five players whose careers were hampered by wrist injuries:

1. Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin del Potro‘s name often comes up in discussions about wrist injuries. When players deal with issues on their wrists, they are warned to never push through pain and avoid a fate similar to that of the Argentinian.

After an impressive 2009 season, del Potro dealt with pain in his right wrist the following season, but he played through it, only for the injury to get worse. He finally had surgery, which kept him on the sidelines. Two years later, del Potro injured his left wrist as well and underwent surgery in March 2014, missing the remainder of the season. The following season, he underwent two more surgeries on his left wrist.

Apart from the wrist, del Potro fractured his right kneecap, and it has not yet healed completely. He featured in his last official match in Buenos Aires in 2022 and played a farewell exhibition match versus Novak Djokovic in December 2024.

2. Dominic Thiem

A wrist injury ultimately ended Dominic Thiem‘s career. During the 2021 Mallorca Open, the Austrian suffered a tear in his tendon sheath and joint capsule while hitting a forehand.

After a long injury layoff, Thiem returned in March 2022 to play in Marbella. But he was never the same player again. Prior to the career-ending injury, Thiem reached a career-high No.3 ranking, clinched the 2020 US Open, and played two French Open finals. He also defeated Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic in the Majors.

But after the injury, he reached just one tour-level final and lost it (Austrian Open Kitzbuhel). Thiem hung up his racket in Vienna in 2024.

3. Nick Kyrgios

Multiple injuries have kept Nick Kyrgios on the sidelines. He tore the ligament in his right wrist in mid-2023 and was forced to skip Wimbledon. In September the same year, he had surgery on his wrist and was forced to skip the entire 2024 season.

In 2023, he featured in just one match. Despite suffering pain, the Aussie returned to the tour in 2025 but played just five matches. Kyrgios was in his prime when he suffered that career-threatening wrist injury as he played in the final of the 2022 Wimbledon, losing to Novak Djokovic.

4. Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu became the cynosure of all eyes when, as an 18-year-old, she lifted the 2021 US Open as a qualifier without dropping a set. Little did she know at that time that injuries, including one in her right wrist, would end up impacting her career.

Raducanu was forced to withdraw from the Transylvania Open when the injury first surfaced toward the end of the 2022 season. The injury flared up the following season, and she finally decided to undergo surgery on both wrists as well as her left ankle. She didn’t play a tournament after the Stuttgart Open and made her comeback at the 2024 ASB Classic.

5. Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal has suffered injuries throughout his career, but despite that, his never-give-up attitude has made him the legend the sporting world knows today. He also injured his wrist, though the injury wasn’t the culprit behind his retirement.

Back in 2016, Nadal was forced to withdraw from his third-round match at the French Open. He had been playing through the injury since the Madrid Open by taking cortisone shots and painkillers.

After his French Open exit, an MRI scan showed inflammation in the tendon sheath, and had he continued, he would have completely ruptured it. He went on to miss Wimbledon but rushed his return to play in the Rio Olympics, winning a gold medal in doubles alongside Marc Lopez. Nadal ended that season in October, missing the ATP Finals.

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