Carlos Alcaraz raised concerns after his appearance for the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.
Alcaraz has missed both Roland Garros and Wimbledon due to his right wrist injury that he suffered during the clay court season.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion is now planning to return, with Alcaraz entered into the Cincinnati Open ahead of the US Open.
However, after Alcaraz was seen still sporting wrist protection on at the World Cup final, there has been a lot of discussion about whether he will actually be ready for the US Open hard court swing.
Andy Roddick reacts to Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist protection at the World Cup final
Former world number one Andy Roddick spoke about Alcaraz’s wrist protection in the latest edition of his ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ podcast.
Roddick admitted he was initially concerned, before suggesting that Alcaraz may have been doing it as a precaution and to avoid physically interacting with too many people.
“I was like, oh gosh that’s not great…But also, if you’re in a bunch of people and you’ve had a wrist injury, I would 100% have some marker that’s like, don’t come up and shake my hand,” said Roddick. “Like maybe that’s all it was
“…It’s interesting, because all we want is for him to be back in the mix and pragmatically I’m going, take your time, long road ahead and it seems like he’s done that.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s rushing something or announcing a timeline where you’re going, are you sure? So wrap, no wrap, I would have something, even if it was mostly fine. Even if it was like I’m close, I’m hitting balls, I’m not going to go to the World Cup and shake 250 hands and some guy that’s been on one comes a little too close, like I get it.
“Hopefully that’s all it is. We are going to have all eyes on the wrist area anytime always until we see him come out and he’s ripping it, so I don’t know.”
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What happened to Carlos Alcaraz at the Cincinnati Open last year?
Alcaraz is now just three weeks away from his planned comeback at the Cincinnati Open, where he will have a lot of attention on him.
Not only will the Spaniard have a lot of attention on him as he is coming back from his wrist injury, but Alcaraz is also the defending Cincinnati Open champion.
This means that Alcaraz faces a lot of pressure upon his first tournament back, as he tries to defend 1,000 ranking points.
Alcaraz will also be defending 2,000 points from the US Open, with his world number three ranking potentially under threat.
The Cincinnati Open will get underway on August 13, where Alcaraz will be the third seed.
