Return of the king
Carlos Alcaraz announced Thursday he will return at the US Open to defend his title, four months after a wrist injury put him out of commission where he missed chances of winning the French Open and Wimbledon.
“I’m back,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion said in a video posted on social media. “Here we go.”
The Spaniard has not played since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open in mid-April with a right wrist injury, missing both the Roland Garros and All-England Club Grand Slams.
Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam in January with his triumph, at age 22, at the Australian Open.
He added the ATP hard court title in Doha in February.
But after withdrawing in Barcelona, he pulled out of tournaments in Madrid and Rome before withdrawing from Roland Garros, where he was the two-time reigning champion.
He pulled the plug on the French Open a month before the tournament was to start and withdrew from Wimbledon almost six weeks before The Championships were to begin.
His camp has been stingy with details of the injury, reported to be tenosynovitis—in which fluid accumulates in a tendon sheath.
At Wimbledon, rival Jannik Sinner prevailed for the second year in a row, beating French Open winner Alexander Zverev in the final.
In the wake of that victory, Sinner voiced the hope that he would soon renew his rivalry with the Spaniard.
“We hope that Carlos is coming back … because tennis needs him,” Sinner said.
Zverev had moved into second in the world rankings ahead of Alcaraz after Wimbledon, but Alcaraz has since regained the No. 2 spot ahead of the German.
Alcaraz had been slated to return for this week’s hard court tournament in Cincinnati, the last big tune-up for the US Open.
When he withdrew, it sparked concerns he wouldn’t be ready to defend his title at Flushing Meadows, but those fears were allayed somewhat when photos of Alcaraz playing practice sets with ATP rival Holger Rune surfaced on social media this week.
Until this year, Alcaraz had missed just one Grand Slam since making his main draw debut at the 2021 Australian Open, missing Melbourne in 2023 with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, the US Open purse will top $100 million for the first time, a 20% increase on previous year’s $85 million that the US Tennis Association no doubt hopes will quiet the kind of protests over player compensation that erupted at the French Open and Wimbledon.
The USTA said Thursday the total player compensation package at this year’s tournament would be a record $108 million, with the men’s and women’s singles champions earning $5.5 million each.
Players in the first round will receive $140,000 via the purse increases spread across all rounds and competitions, including doubles and the wheelchair tournament.
The USTA’s announcement coincided with a joint announcement by all four Grand Slams—the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open—of the creation of a Grand Slam player advisory council “to serve as the forum for direct communication, feedback and collaboration between the Grand Slams and players”.
Top players, including world No. 1s Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, limited their availability to media before the French Open and Wimbledon in protest of perceived low prize money.
The Grand Slams said the new player council will launch after the US Open.
“The Grand Slams are currently shaping the Council’s initial composition, framework and operating structure with player input,” the statement said. “Interested players will be invited to apply, and those appointed to the Council will address the full range of Grand Slam sporting matters.”
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