Overview
- Alcaraz has been sidelined since April 2026 with right‑wrist tenosynovitis and has not played a competitive match since retiring from the Barcelona Open.
- On Monday he was filmed training in Murcia with Holger Rune and hitting without a protective cast, but multiple insiders report he is working at roughly 50–55% intensity.
- Coaches and former players including Patrick Mouratoglou and Greg Rusedski have warned that a few weeks of practice is likely too short to withstand best‑of‑five Grand Slam matches, and his team says a final US Open decision will come in the coming days.
- Alcaraz already withdrew from Cincinnati and has missed Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Montreal, so his absence would alter seeding and open the draw for other contenders at Flushing Meadows.
- Tenosynovitis is an inflammation of the tendon sheath that can flare under heavy serving and repeated forehands, so the team must weigh the short‑term chance to defend his title against the longer‑term risk to his wrist and career.