Carlos Alcaraz Confirms US Open Return After 4-Month Injury Absence

Carlos Alcaraz will return to competition at the US Open following a four-month absence caused by a right wrist injury, according to an announcement made alongside journalist Fabrizio Romano with the phrase “Here we go!”. The 23-year-old Spanish tennis player, currently ranked number three in the ATP rankings, missed both Roland Garros and Wimbledon during his recovery.

### The Road to New York and Practice Testing

Alcaraz has spent 128 days sidelined since sustaining the most significant injury of his professional career during his tournament debut at the ATP 500 in Barcelona against Otto Virtanen on April 14, 2026, according to Cadena SER. Never before has the player from El Palmar spent this amount of time away from competitive play.

To test his recovery, Alcaraz engaged in extensive training sessions in Murcia, playing multiple sets across a workout lasting more than four hours alongside Holger Rune, as reported by Cadena SER. Rune, a Danish player who reached the fourth spot in the ATP rankings, has also been recovering from an Achilles tendon rupture sustained in October 2025 during an Estocolmo semifinal match against Ugo Humbert, according to Infobae. During these practice sessions, Alcaraz wore a compression sleeve on his right arm and reported feeling very comfortable with overwhelmingly positive physical sensations, leading him and his team to confirm their participation in the final Grand Slam of the season.

### US Open Schedule and Rankings Context

The US Open is scheduled to run from August 25 to September 13, 2026, with main draw matches beginning on August 30 after the preliminary rounds, according to Infobae and Cadena SER. Alcaraz enters the tournament as the defending champion, having defeated Jannik Sinner in the final of the previous year’s event.

However, his absence from the tour has altered his position in the men’s standings; Alexander Zverev has overtaken him, dropping the Spaniard to the third spot in the ATP rankings behind current world number one Jannik Sinner. Sinner himself has faced physical setbacks, undergoing wave therapy in Turin to treat inflammation in his right knee tendon, according to La Gazzetta reporting cited by Cadena SER. Sinner has been training intensively at the Circolo Stampa Sporting to determine if he is fit to travel to the United States.

Alcaraz skipped the Cincinnati tournament, which would have served as his initial competitive warmup, meaning he will enter the Flushing Meadows draw without any prior tournament matches since April. If he decides against participating in future events outside of the tour, his next scheduled commitments include the Laver Cup from September 25 to 27, followed by the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, running from October 21 to 24, as detailed by Infobae.