Carlos Alcaraz to return at US Open after four-month wrist layoff
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will return to compete at the US Open in New York, which begins on Sunday, 30 August, after missing four months with a right wrist injury. His participation was confirmed in a joint Instagram post with football influencer Fabrizio Romano, and Alcaraz posted "here we go!" on X with an American-flag and plane emoji.
The 23-year-old won the Australian Open in January to become the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam titles, but has not played a competitive match since 14 April after injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open. He has been linked to the mixed doubles competition that takes place the week before the US Open, with three wildcards still to be handed out, and last year he played the revamped mixed event alongside Britain's Emma Raducanu, who is out of this year's tournament with injury.
Alcaraz started 2026 strongly but his season was interrupted: he beat Novak Djokovic in four sets to complete the career Grand Slam, won the Qatar Open in February, then lost in the semi-finals at Indian Wells in March and the third round of the Miami Open. Jannik Sinner replaced him as world number one after beating him in the final of April's Monte Carlo Masters, their only meeting of the year, and Alcaraz managed just one match in Barcelona before sustaining the wrist injury.
After missing the majority of the clay-court swing and the entire grass season because of the wrist problem, Alcaraz made a cautious return to training in July. He was photographed hitting at a training session in Spain on 4 August but withdrew from the Cincinnati Open a day later; in subsequent workouts on his home courts in Murcia he has worn a sleeve on his forearm and practised with Holger Rune in recent weeks.
Alcaraz has been replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev after being unable to defend his Cincinnati title; Zverev won the French Open and finished runner-up at SW19. Sinner, who won Wimbledon in July, will go into the US Open with no match time on a hard court after withdrawing from Cincinnati with a knee injury.
Wrist injuries have proved troublesome for other players and Alcaraz said in April he did not want to do further harm for "future tournaments". The article cites Dominic Thiem, who retired at the end of 2024 after his career was derailed by a wrist injury, and Juan Martin del Potro, who was plagued by a wrist problem after winning his sole major at the 2009 US Open, as examples.
Alcaraz was 19 when he won his first Grand Slam at the 2022 US Open, beating Casper Ruud to become the youngest men's major champion in 17 years, and he repeated the feat last year by beating Sinner in four sets. Sinner has lost only three matches this year, two of those defeats coming in the first two months and one to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals, and he swept the 'Sunshine Double' of Indian Wells and Miami without dropping a set.
The US Open singles event begins on Sunday, 30 August in New York, where Alcaraz is scheduled to make his return to Grand Slam competition.
