“No way” – Carlos Alcaraz might have to sit out the rest of the year because of a new injury problem.
Greg Rusedski thinks Carlos Alcaraz might find it hard to play another tennis match this year after having to pull out of the Cincinnati Open because of his ongoing injury troubles.
Alcaraz has been out for four months since he hurt his wrist at the Barcelona Open in April. The 23-year-old has been sidelined after withdrawing from his match against Tomáš Macháč due to a bad wrist condition called tenosynovitis. This injury made him miss the rest of the clay season and all of the grass season.
He couldn’t defend his French Open title in June and also pulled out of Wimbledon, where he was the runner-up last year. Alcaraz was planning to play in Cincinnati to get ready for a possible comeback at the US Open, but now he won’t be able to take part.
From his own experience, Rusedski feels this injury could keep Alcaraz out for the rest of the year. He thinks there’s no chance Carlos will play in the final Grand Slam of the season.
“He can’t play in the US Open now. If he skips Cincinnati, there’s no way he’ll be ready,” Rusedski said on his ‘Off Court’ podcast.
“Everything seemed fine, then we got this news. If it was just a small inflammation, he’d probably be better by now. This seems more serious. We don’t know if there’s a tear or if he’s had surgery. Who knows?”
Even though Alcaraz really wants to get back to playing soon, Rusedski believes the young star should be careful and accept that he might not return until 2027.
He added, “Only Carlos and his team know what’s really going on, but this is taking longer than we hoped. He should take all the time he needs, even if that means missing the rest of the year and coming back next year. This might take longer, and we might not see him play again this year.
“You have to be 100% sure your body is ready, because coming back too soon is risky. So, in my opinion, he won’t play the US Open or Cincinnati. That’s it for now. Will he play in the indoor season? We’ll see.”