Alcaraz says 'it is possible' to win US Open after four-month wrist layoff
Carlos Alcaraz says he believes it is possible to win the US Open as he returns to singles competition in New York after a four-month layoff caused by a right wrist injury.
The 23-year-old has not played singles since injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open in April and was sidelined for a lengthy period. This season opened with Alcaraz becoming the youngest man in history to complete a career grand slam with his triumph in Australia, then a few days after reaching the Monte Carlo final he suffered the wrist injury in Barcelona. He missed both the French Open, where he was the defending champion, and Wimbledon while he recovered.
“So, it is possible [to win],” Alcaraz said. “I think that many people have shown it. [Roger] Federer, [Rafa] Nadal, many people have shown that you can win a grand slam after having been injured for a long time or having had a very hard injury. So we’re going to try to tie ourselves to that belief that we can do it too.”
Alcaraz described uncertainty during the recovery as the hardest part of the past four months and recounted the early period of his layoff. “The first month was kind of difficult for me, because I couldn’t do anything with my right arm,” he said. “It was tough. But at the same time, I enjoyed my time. I enjoyed my time with family, with friends, staying at home. But once I started to practice a little bit, that I didn’t know when I’m gonna start, [those] thoughts are really difficult to deal with, because I don’t know if I’m gonna be ready for Cincinnati, for US Open, or I’m gonna miss the whole American swing. So those thoughts were really difficult to deal with. But finally, here we are.”
He only began hitting again just over four weeks ago, a timeline that denied him the chance to build back gradually through competition. Returning to a grand slam in best-of-five sets further complicates the comeback: “Coming to the US Open, best-of-five for the first one, in such a long time, it’s really challenging.” he said.
Alcaraz said the decision to return was carefully considered by him and his team and was based on intensive practice sessions to test his wrist. “Probably, in terms of preparation and everything, [it] is not the best time. But we, my team and me, believe that I’m ready. It wasn’t an easy decision. I just did whatever it took to be ready. I just tried to do everything perfect on and off the court, to feel ready. Really long practices, really intense practices, just to see how my wrist is going to react on the practices and after that really long days. We saw everything [was] OK, everything [was] good with those practices, and we thought it’s going to be the time to be back.”
Alcaraz will make his first singles appearance since April in the US Open first round against Roman Safiullin.