Carlos Alcaraz is finally ready to return to competitive tennis, with the four-time Grand Slam champion set to make his comeback at the US Open after more than four months on the sidelines.
The tournament holds a special place in Alcaraz’s career. It was at Flushing Meadows in 2022 that the Spaniard won his first Grand Slam title and became the youngest player in history to reach No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
His return to New York therefore carries plenty of significance, but there will also be questions surrounding his form and fitness after such a lengthy absence.
Alcaraz has not played an official match since April 14, when he competed at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. A right wrist injury then forced him into an extended rehabilitation programme, ruling him out of a large portion of the 2026 season.
He missed the remainder of the clay-court swing, including the Madrid Open, Italian Open and Roland Garros. His absence continued through the grass season, with Alcaraz missing Queen’s and Wimbledon, before he also sat out the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open during the North American hard-court swing.
The layoff is the longest period without a competitive match in Alcaraz’s young career.
His recovery has been carefully managed in Murcia, with the Spaniard gradually increasing his workload as his wrist improved. Training initially focused on physical conditioning and controlled hitting before progressing to more intense sessions.
A recent series of practice sessions with Holger Rune provided another important test. The high-level hitting allowed Alcaraz to assess how his wrist responded to the demands of facing a top-level opponent.
However, the US Open will provide a far greater challenge.
Alcaraz will enter the tournament without an official match under his belt for more than four months, and he will immediately face the demands of best-of-five-set Grand Slam tennis.
His biggest questions will be whether his wrist can handle the physical strain and how quickly he can regain his competitive rhythm.
Despite those concerns, Alcaraz has plenty of positive memories to draw on in New York.
He first announced himself as a major threat at the 2021 US Open when he reached the quarter-finals as a teenager. One year later, he went all the way, surviving three five-set matches before defeating Casper Ruud in the final to claim his maiden Grand Slam title and the world No. 1 ranking.
Alcaraz also enjoyed another memorable campaign in 2023, beating Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals before defeating Jannik Sinner in the final to secure his second US Open crown.
Now, after months away from the tour, Alcaraz returns to the scene of two of his biggest triumphs.
The talent and experience remain, but the biggest challenge will be rediscovering his match sharpness after an unusually long break. If his wrist holds up and his rhythm returns quickly, the defending champion could once again become one of the biggest threats in New York.
For Alcaraz, the comeback begins at the tournament where his Grand Slam story first took off.
