Report: Carlos Alcaraz injury a big blow for Spain's Davis Cup ambitions

The world No 1 is part of Spain's five-man squad that will face the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Final 8 in Bologna this week and was confident he would play despite being hampered by a hamstring injury during the final against Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz took a medical timeout towards the end of the first set and later explained: "I felt something [in] the hamstring after trying to catch one serve. I could say it didn't affect me too much, to be honest, because I could run well, I could go to the balls well.

"Obviously, the thoughts about how it's going to be if I do crazy things that I'm used to doing, how it's going to be, those thoughts were in my mind sometimes. But I could play well.

"Don't get me wrong, because I'm not going to say I could play better or I could do something better if my hamstring were well. I could play a really good tennis with it. The loss is because he deserved it."

He lost the match 7-6, 7-5, but confirmed to the media that "I'm heading off to Bologna tomorrow" before his team revealed he would have an MR before joining up with the rest of the Spanish squad.

And that MRI has confirmed the injury is quite serious as sources have told El Partidazo de COPE that he will not feature at the Davis Cup Finals as he has a muscle edema (swelling caused by excessive fluids).

It was initially decided that Alcaraz would not train on Tuesday with the team only deciding about his participation in the tournament on Wednesday after a full day's rest.

However, after careful consultation between his personal doctor, Juanjo Lopez, and the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation doctor, Angel Ruiz Cotorro, it was decided not to risk him during the event as there is a high risk of a hamstring tear.

According to AS sources, "there has been a change of heart among the world number one's camp, who prefer not to take any risks, as they believe the strain is serious enough that there is a high chance of it leading to a tear. Furthermore, this area has caused Carlitos problems in the past: just this year, he withdrew from the Madrid Open for the same reason."

Spain's Davis Cup captain David Ferrer and Alcaraz are set to confirm his withdrawal at a press conference later on Tuesday, but the world No 1's absence has resulted in some shuffling within the team.

Jaume Munar and Pablo Carreno Busta will now play the singles matches against the Czech Republic while Marcel Granollers and Pedro Martinez will feature in the doubles.