ATP Finals 2022: Why is World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz not playing in the major tournament?

Carlos Alcaraz broke up one of the biggest record in the history of professional tennis. As Alcaraz clinched the 2022 US Open title, he climbed to the World No.1 place of the ATP Ranking. This made him the youngest ever to have this place. Also, it gave him the chance to play in the 2022 ATP Finals for the first time, but he eventually withdrawn right before the draw was made.

However, this doesn't erase the wonderful year that Alcaraz had. As the youngest World No.1 in ATP history, the Spaniard has so much left on him. He has played over 70 games in the season, which not made are capable of. Eventually something would have happened.

Certainly both best-of-the-best tournaments the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, and the ATP Finals in Turin was the perfect chance to get the respect from both the new and the old guys in the tour. However, that won't be possible, due to his last performance at the 2022 Paris Masters. 

Why is ATP World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz not playing in the 2022 ATP Finals?

During his Quaterfinals matchup against Holger Rune at the 2022 Paris Masters, Carlos Alcaraz suffered an injury in his abdomen. Then, he later confirmed via Twitter, this injury was more serious than expected. So, the final decision was to withdraw from the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals, the 2022 ATP Finals, as well as the Davis Cup. 

Which tennis player will replace Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 ATP Finals?

Alcaraz will miss the chance to play his first-ever major ATP Finals tournament in Turin as the World No.1 of the Association of Tennis Professionals ranking. In fact, his injury will leave him out of the tennis court at least for six weeks. Which means he will not be part of any other tennis tournament the rest of year. 

His inmediate replacement will be the American Taylor Fritz, who has performed one of his best tennis in his professional career. In his breakout season, Fritz has a record of 43 wins, and 19 losses. Also, he has clinched three ATP Tour titles just this year. One of those was to Rafael Nadal at the Masters 1000 Indian Wells, in March.