Carlos Alcaraz's five-month absence from professional tennis has the entire tour on edge, and now four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters has added her voice to the growing chorus of concern and curiosity surrounding the Spaniard's wrist injury.
Alcaraz first hurt his wrist at the Barcelona Open in April, a setback that ultimately cost him appearances at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The lengthy layoff also saw him lose his world No. 2 ranking to Alexander Zverev, and reports suggest he has only recently returned to light training intensity.
Speaking on her podcast Love All, Clijsters, who dealt with multiple wrist injuries throughout her own playing career, admitted she is genuinely baffled by the communication around Alcaraz's situation. She noted that the Spaniard has been both open and secretive at the same time, occasionally posting training clips and appearing in photos wearing a brace or cast, but never showing himself playing at full intensity. "I'm just very curious to see," she said.
The stakes could not be higher. Alcaraz is listed in the entry draws for both the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, but time is rapidly running out. Cincinnati gets underway on August 11, and if he cannot compete there, he stands to forfeit the 1,000 ranking points he earned by winning the Masters event last year. That potential drop would leave him at roughly 7,160 points, while Zverev is defending only semi-final points from Cincinnati, meaning a strong run there could widen the gap between the two significantly.
Missing Cincinnati would also mean Alcaraz would head to Flushing Meadows without a single warm-up match under his belt, a daunting prospect at a Grand Slam level. TennisDraw users flagging Alcaraz for a deep US Open run may want to keep a close eye on his training updates over the next few days.
