'If he were Carlos Alcaraz, he would have retired from tennis,' says Marc Marquez's doctor - RAW CHILI

Marc Marquez‘s doctor Samuel Antuna has underlined the severity of the reigning MotoGP champion’s latest injury, saying he would have to retire from professional tennis if he were world number three Carlos Alcaraz.

After undergoing surgery on his right shoulder on 10 May, Marquez returned in Italy less than three weeks later, stringing together four victories in the following six rounds of the calendar, including three spectacular doubles in Hungary, Germany and, most recently, at Aragon.

Those results led some to speculate about the rider’s true physical condition.

Marquez’s response, after repeatedly insisting in recent weeks that “I’m tired of talking about my arm”, was to post a photo of himself training shirtless on social media, clearly showing the muscle atrophy around his right shoulder.

The injury occurred in October last year, when he was hit by Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the Indonesian GP.

The injury required two operations, on 14 October and then on 10 May. It was the seventh surgical procedure on that arm since 2020 and has completely changed the shape and appearance of Marquez’s right shoulder. It has also had a lasting impact, which, according to the doctors treating him, left the arm “at around 50% of its capacity”.

In an extensive interview with El Periodico de Catalunya, Dr Antuna, one of Marquez’s trusted surgeons, explained that the incident with Bezzecchi in Indonesia completely undid all the recovery work that had been done on the arm.

“The crash in Indonesia meant starting all over again,” Antuna acknowledged in the interview.

“It caused an acromioclavicular dislocation, associated with a fracture at the base of the coracoid. A dislocation like that, for someone who rides at 350 kilometres per hour, is very important to heal properly, so that there are no after-effects, because the shoulder muscles attach to the clavicle and, if the clavicle is not stable, it can cause problems.

“The dislocation healed, although it took four months to be fully recovered.”

Marc Marquez

Photo by: Marc Márquez

However, the injury was more complicated than it initially appeared.

“In that same crash, there was secondary displacement of a bone fragment that had been used several years earlier to stabilise the same shoulder. Marc continued competing, but with difficulties controlling the arm, causing him pain and crashes. It was then that we detected the problem,” Antuna explained.

That ultimately led to Marquez undergoing surgery in May, with the doctor acknowledging that before the Indonesian accident, his recovery had been almost complete. That had allowed Marquez to dominate the 2025 season and claim his ninth world title.

“Before the accident in Indonesia, the entire arm injury was very well compensated. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fine and, after that incident, it became decompensated.”

The injury is unlikely to allow Marquez to return to the level he displayed before last year’s accident in Indonesia.

“We are immersed in a process that is slow and which, now, is somewhat better than it was, but by no means does he have a normal arm, nor will he ever have one again. Marc finds it difficult to play padel, and with that I tell you everything,” the doctor said.

“If Marc were Carlos Alcaraz, he would have had to retire from professional tennis. He could play tennis, but as an amateur.”

Another recurring theme for Marquez in recent times has been understanding what his new physical 100% looks like after seven operations on his right arm.

“Putting a real value on Marc’s arm is impossible, because he has a great ability to compensate for his limitations. What I can tell you is that that arm is very limited in strength, especially the biceps. I would say that that arm is at around 50% of its capacity,” Dr Antuna said.

‘If he were Carlos Alcaraz, he would have retired from tennis,’ says Marc Marquez’s doctor