NEW YORK (AP) — After sitting out more than four months nursing an injured right wrist that caused him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz didn't decide to return for the U.S. Open to be anything less than his Grand Slam-winning self.
“You’re going to see Carlitos playing the way he always has,” Alcaraz said.
The 23-year-old from Spain is set to play his first competitive singles match Monday since getting sidelined by the wrist injury in mid-April. He insists he has not changed anything about his mechanics and expressed confidence about physically feeling great.
"I need competition," Alcaraz said Friday. “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."
Alcaraz is the defending champion and favored to go back-to-back, a year after beating Jannik Sinner and overtaking him for the No. 1 ranking. The field this time does not include Sinner, who withdrew because of a right knee injury.
“We are not going see each other for, like, six months now, seven months,” Alcaraz said. “It’s kind of a weird situation, to be honest.”
Alexander Zverev is the top seed in Sinner's absence. But all eyes are on Alcaraz, who earlier this year won his seventh Grand Slam title by defeating Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
“Everyone is going to be pretty tapped in to see his first match,” 11th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe said. “If he comes back anywhere near his level, it’s tough. Regardless, even if he’s not at his tip-top (shape), you’ve still got to beat him in five (sets).”
Alcaraz opens against Roman Safiullin as he dives right back into best-of-five-set tennis in his return. He did get a chance to shake some rust off by playing a couple of mixed doubles matches with Serena Williams this week, but he knows not getting a full ramp up to the U.S. Open adds another layer of difficulty.
“It’s really challenging,” Alcaraz said. “Probably in terms of preparation and everything, (it) is not the best time.”
But the energy of playing in New York was enough of a draw that he said, “There is no better tournament than the U.S. Open to be back.”
Can he win it off such a long layoff? He knows Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have done it but does not want to set any expectations.
“I’m not going to set a limit for myself,” Alcaraz said in Spanish. “I don’t want to focus on a specific result. I want to focus on the process we’ve gone through. Just go out there, enjoy it and feel good.”
Zverev, who's now four years removed from tearing ligaments in his right ankle, was reluctant to compare two very different injuries. But he expects Alcaraz to be formidable as the tournament goes on.
“Wrist is never easy,” Zverev said. “I expect him to be maybe a bit rusty the first or second match, but once he gets through that, I think he’s going to be a contender, for sure, here.”
After dealing with intrusive thoughts during his time away from the sport, Alcaraz is still playing a mental game to not worry too much about the injury. His goals are to get through the U.S. Open healthy and stay away from the fear that creeps into his head.
“I just have to go 100%,” Alcaraz said. “I've got to trust my team. I've got to trust my people that tell me that it’s going to be fine.”
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AP Sports Writer Eric Nunez contributed to this report.
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