The 2026 season hasn’t been kind to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when it comes to injuries. Though both players have enjoyed success on the court, they have also missed key tournaments due to physical setbacks. Fans desperately want them to face each other again in major tournaments, but that isn’t going to happen for some time. Roger Federer has now sent a message to the fans, who always have high expectations of both Alcaraz and Sinner.

“Obviously, the most unfortunate time to get hit with an injury is before the French, and then you miss French Wimby because that comes back-to-back, and then it’s a struggle for the open, and we’ve seen that with Carlos (Alcaraz),” he said in a press conference. “So I try to keep a good schedule with breaks, but it’s easier said than done. I took a lot of chances as well, where I piled on maybe a couple more tournaments than I should have, but kind of made it through the tournaments.”

“So, I think important is also to prioritize what is important to you. That could be American swing here or Australia for the Aussies, and so everybody has different times of the year when you want to peak because you can’t peak clearly 20 times a year. I think fans shouldn’t forget that as well. It’s hard to peak every single match.”

Alcaraz’s season has pretty much been derailed by the wrist injury he sustained in April. The Spaniard was out of action for four months due to the setback, missing both the French Open and Wimbledon. He also missed several Masters events, which led to a massive loss of ranking points. After spending multiple months on the sidelines, he will finally be back in action at the US Open and will also play the mixed doubles event alongside Serena Williams.

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On the other hand, Sinner has remained fit for most of the season and has captured six titles. But cracks have started to show in the last few months. The World No. 1 first missed all the grass-court events leading up to Wimbledon and prioritized rest instead. He has also missed the entirety of the US swing, including the US Open, and there is no guarantee when he will return to action.

With both Alcaraz and Sinner having cemented themselves as the two best male players of the generation, it’s not a surprise that fans have high expectations of them in every tournament. But like any other player, they too can’t control injuries and can’t always maintain a high level either.

Federer recognizes this as he, too, used to be put in the same category during his playing days. The former World No. 1 was expected to win or make a deep run in every tournament he played, but he wasn’t able to deliver at times.

So, he is aware that every player has bad days and suffers from injuries at some point. He just wants the fans to understand that there is nothing wrong with this.