Carlos Alcaraz confirmed Thursday that he will return from a right wrist injury to play in the 2026 U.S. Open, according to Bleacherreport. The 23-year-old Spaniard announced his return in a joint Instagram post with football insider Fabrizio Romano, featuring the message, Here we go! Carlos Alcaraz will return to the tour at the U.S. Open after spending four months sidelined with a right wrist injury
as reported by Bleacherreport. Alcaraz also shared the news on X with the six-word message, I’m coming back. Here we go,
noted The New York Times.
Carlos Alcaraz Confirms Comeback at 2026 US Open
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion has been out of competition since April, when he sustained the injury during his first-round victory at the Barcelona Open and subsequently withdrew from the tournament, as detailed by Bleacherreport. His prolonged absence forced him to miss both Roland-Garros in May and June, and Wimbledon in June and July, according to Bleacherreport. The only Grand Slam tournament Alcaraz has played in 2026 is the Australian Open, where he was victorious to complete his career Grand Slam, as noted by Bleacherreport.
Injury Background and Intensive Training Preparations
Alcaraz has been managing tenosynovitis, a condition where fluid accumulates in the sheath protecting a key tendon in the wrist, which The New York Times describes as the kind of ailment tennis players fear most. Having initially targeted the Cincinnati Open for his comeback, Alcaraz opted to give his wrist more time to recover after withdrawing from both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open due to ongoing match fitness concerns, as reported by Yahoo Sports and NBC News.
In recent weeks, Alcaraz has gradually increased his workload and tested the injury at higher intensity in his hometown of Murcia, where he participated in extended training sessions lasting three to four hours in heat-index conditions reaching 40°C (104°F) and practiced with Denmark’s Holger Rune, according to Yahoo Sports and NBC News.
Title Defense and Seeding Landscape at Flushing Meadows
Scheduled to start on August 30 and run through September 13, the tournament in New York holds significant history for Alcaraz, who won his first career Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2022 and enters as the reigning champion after beating Jannik Sinner in last year’s final, as outlined by Bleacherreport and NBC News. Alcaraz is tasked with defending 2,000 ranking points as the reigning champion and is set to drop to World No. 3 next week when his 2025 Cincinnati Open champion points come off his ranking, according to Yahoo Sports. Despite his four-month absence, he currently sits at No. 2 in the ATP rankings behind only Sinner, though Alexander Zverev and Sinner are both in contention for top seedings, with Sinner’s own participation remaining uncertain following his withdrawal from the Cincinnati Open due to right knee discomfort, as noted by Bleacherreport, The New York Times, and Yahoo Sports.
