Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest man to complete a career grand slam, continues to be sidelined due to a right wrist injury. Alcaraz has not competed since the Barcelona Open in April. Below, we will dish out an injury update on the 23-year-old tennis star, and look at potential return dates.
Carlos Alcaraz injury update: when will the tennis star return?
Alcaraz is dealing with an inflamed tendon sheath in his right wrist. It typically takes 4-to-6 weeks to recover from the injury, although chronic cases can take over three months.
It has been 12 weeks and 6 days, so nearly three months, since Alcaraz’s injury occurred during his opening match victory over Otto Virtanen in the Barcelona Open.
Alcaraz’s camp has not outright said that he has suffered a setback, but considering it does not appear he is imminently close to a return, there is good reason to believe there have been complications.
The world’s No. 3 player was expected to return for the Canadian Open, which begins on Aug. 1, but he was not present on the entry list.
Alcaraz posted an Instagram video of himself lightly working out on the tennis court, hitting some balls. Former player and current tennis analyst Greg Rusedski said on his tennis podcast, “Off Court,” that he was concerned that Alcaraz was not close to returning after watching the video.
“I would be shocked if he is playing the US Open,” Rusedski said. “Because what I noticed when I was watching the video footage, you know he’s hitting some light forehands, some light backhands, barely hitting the ball, doing movement patterns.
“And when he was serving, did you realize that he didn’t hit one serve? He was doing the full motion and landing, letting the ball drop and then restarting the motion.
“For me, to put a video out like that I guess it gets you the publicity to say, ‘look, I’m working hard to try and get back.’ But it gives me more questions than answers and it just tells me that there’s something a lot more serious if he’s not actually hitting the ball.”
After watching the video, former player and tennis analyst Boris Becker also believes that Alzaraz isn’t close to returning.
“Nice to see [Alcaraz] hit a little but still far off I am afraid …,” Becker wrote on X.
It currently appears unlikely that Alcaraz will be healthy enough to defend his title at the US Open, which begins on Aug. 25.
There is also now the very real possibility that Alcaraz will not return in 2026.
Carlos Alcaraz odds
Alcaraz is still listed on the Fanatics Sportsbook odds board for the 2026 US Open as he owns a +185 price. Only Jannik Sinner appears ahead of Alcaraz on the odds board, as the Italian is the favorite at -150.
Alcaraz is a two-time US Open winner, having won the tournament last year and in 2022.
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