Carlos Alcaraz may have to miss another Grand Slam tournament this year if he is not recovered in time for the US Open.
Alcaraz was forced to miss Wimbledon and Roland Garros this year due to a wrist injury he suffered during the clay court season.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion has recently released footage of himself back on court, despite Alcaraz not entering the Canadian Open.
Despite many being excited by the prospect of Alcaraz being on court, former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski has raised his concern regarding the Spaniard.
Greg Rusedski says he is ‘deeply concerned’ about Carlos Alcaraz
Rusedski spoke about Alcaraz’s training footage in the latest edition of his ‘Off Court with Greg Rusedski‘ podcast, as he admitted he would be ‘shocked’ to see him playing the US Open this year.
Alcaraz was not hitting to a particularly high intensity in his training footage, and this is a big concern for Rusedski after nearly three months away from the match court.
“I would be shocked if he is playing the US Open!” exclaimed Rusedski. “Because what I noticed when I was watching the video footage, you know he’s hitting some light forehands, some light backhands, barely hitting the ball, doing movement patterns.
“And when he was serving, did you realise that he didn’t hit one serve. He was doing the full motion and landing, letting the ball drop and then restarting the motion.
“For me, to put a video out like that, I guess it gets you the publicity to say look, I’m working hard to try to get back. But it gives me more questions than answers and it just tells me that there’s something a lot more serious if he’s not actually hitting the ball.
“When we saw him hitting the ball against the wall, the ball was barely getting to him too, so it’s a little bit of advertisement for the Alcaraz Academy indoor court that was there, but from my perspective as a coach and a player, I am deeply concerned.”
Is it time to start panicking about Carlos Alcaraz?
He's out of another Grand Slam…
Rusedski then proceeded to speak about how much men’s tennis misses Alcaraz, before advising him to take the rest of the 2026 season off if needed to be fully fit next year.
“We miss him, let’s be honest,” added Rusedski. “That [Jannik] Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry was unbelievable for those two years and that French Open match was the match, that is probably my favourite match of all time, saving the match points, it was just an incredible match.
“The nice thing is that [Alexander] Zverev has stepped up to answer the bill since he’s been gone, since the Australian Open. So that’s the positive news, but we need him.
“He is a mega star, and I hope he gets back and I hope he finds a way to solve this wrist problem. Even if he needs to take the rest of the season off and can come back at the end of the season fully fit, that’s a positive. So take as long as you need, don’t risk it and let’s hope he gets back, because we don’t want him away from the game, because he’s desperately needed in men’s tennis.”
Can Carlos Alcaraz win MORE Grand Slams than Novak Djokovic? 🤔
How many ranking points will Carlos Alcaraz lose if he misses the US Open?
Due to his absence from the ATP Tour, Alcaraz is set to drop down to world number three, which was confirmed after Alexander Zverev beat Arthur Fery to reach the Wimbledon final.
However, things could go from bad to worse for Alcaraz if he misses the entire US Open hard court swing.
Last year, Alcaraz won the titles at both the Cincinnati Open and the US Open in a flawless hard court season in North America.
This means that Alcaraz will be defending a huge 3,000 points during this section of the season.
Currently Alcaraz leads world number four Felix Auger-Aliassime by 3,420 points, but if he misses the US Open then it could make him vulnerable to dropping even further.
