Carlos Alcaraz's return to the ATP Tour remains shrouded in uncertainty, with reports out of his home city of Murcia suggesting that while progress is positive, his participation at the Cincinnati Open is far from guaranteed.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been sidelined since suffering a right wrist injury during his first-round victory over Otto Virtanen at the Barcelona Open on April 14. He subsequently missed Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome, a stretch of absences that underlines just how cautious his team is being.
Javier Varela, a journalist for La Verdad, the Murcia-based newspaper close to the Alcaraz camp, confirmed the Spaniard is back on court but working with a very limited training load. No sets or practice matches have been played yet, and the priority remains honoring the recovery timeline set by his medical team rather than rushing back for the sake of appearances.
Cincinnati, which begins August 13, is currently on his entry list, and so is the US Open, where he will defend his title. However, skipping Cincinnati would make a deep US Open run considerably harder, given the physical demands of returning from a delicate wrist injury without any competitive warm-up.
Former British No. 1 Kyle Edmund, who dealt with his own wrist problems late in his career, offered a frank assessment in an exclusive interview with Tennis365. Edmund noted the injury "seems significant" given the Grand Slams already missed, and stressed that Alcaraz must feel complete trust in his wrist before returning. "The way he plays is so explosive and physical," Edmund said, "he can't have any doubts."
Alcaraz arrived at 2026 with a dazzling 22-3 record, including titles at the Australian Open and Qatar Open. TennisDraw users have consistently backed him as a US Open favorite, and the tennis world is watching his recovery timeline closely.
