Princess Charlotte is likely to be disappointed by the news that one of her favourite tennis stars, Carlos Alcaraz, has been ruled out of both The Queen’s Club Championships and Wimbledon due to an ongoing injury.
The Spanish star took to X to share that he would not be participating in the competitions as he worked to get his wrist up to full speed. “My recovery is going well, and I feel much better, but unfortunately I’m still not ready to be able to play, and that’s why I have to withdraw from the grass-court swing at Queen’s and Wimbledon,” he wrote.
“They are two really special tournaments for me, and I’ll miss them a lot. We keep working to return as soon as possible!”
Charlotte is a huge fan of the 23-year-old and first encountered him backstage at Wimbledon in 2023. She then met him again a year later at the prestigious competition, and proudly shook his hand in a moment that went viral.
“A handshake for the champion from HRH Princess Charlotte,” wrote the official Wimbledon Instagram page at the time, alongside a photo of the royal smiling broadly at the Spaniard. Kate told the tennis player that Charlotte had been “cheering you on” and that the family “watched a lot on telly…so it’s great to finally get to meet you”.
Charlotte also got to meet British tennis stars Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Lily Miyazaki, Lucy Shuker and Flora Johnson, as Kate revealed that her daughter had been practising tennis diligently.
© GettyThe Princess of Wales added that she and Charlotte had been “filling in the leaderboard” during Wimbledon, and enjoyed playing the sport together as a family as it was “really great for the youngsters”.
See Princess Charlotte and Carlos’ meeting below…
Kate has always been a tennis lover, and shared with the BBC in 2017 that Wimbledon held a special place in her heart. “I have watched Wimbledon, that was very much part of my growing up,” she recalled.
“It’s such a quintessential part of the English summer, and I think it really inspires youngsters, myself, it inspired me when I was younger to get involved in the game. It hasn’t changed either, I think that’s what’s so wonderful.”
© Andrew Parsons – PA ImagesAlthough Charlotte won’t get to witness Carlos tear up the court at Wimbledon in 2026, the athlete will hopefully return to tennis in time for the US Open in August. He has not competed since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open in April after feeling pain in his wrist, and he also withdrew from the French Open despite being the reigning champion at Roland Garros.
© Getty Images“I have a very long career ahead of me, with many years still to come. Forcing things at this Roland Garros could really harm me for future tournaments,” he said at the Laureus Awards in April.
Carlos has won the Wimbledon men’s singles twice before, in 2023 and 2024, and more recently became the youngest male athlete to win the Australian Open in January when he defeated Novak Djokovic.
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