Carlos Alcaraz booked his place in the third round of the US Open on Wednesday, then told reporters he plans to keep skipping tournaments in the seasons ahead.
The Spaniard came from a set down to beat Portugal’s Jaime Faria 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, his second win since returning from a right wrist injury that had kept him off tour since April.
Asked about his layoff, he said the length of his enforced break was not the way he wanted to rest.
“I took more than I wanted, to be honest, but seeing how tight is the calendar, obviously I don’t want to have this break because an injury. But in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all,” he told reporters at Flushing Meadows.
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A 40-week calendar Alcaraz says is unplayable
“I think they adding more important tournaments. In a way they making us to play. You can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some Grand Slams, and we’ve been out playing 40 weeks if we got to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP required us to play. So it’s impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future,” he said.
Under the 2026 ATP rulebook, a top-ranked player’s commitment covers every Masters 1000 he is accepted into, the Nitto ATP Finals if he qualifies, and four ATP 500 tournaments. A player who withdraws in advance faces no fine or suspension, but forfeits a share of the tour’s bonus pool and takes a ranking hit.
Wrist injury from Barcelona to Flushing Meadows
Alcaraz’s wrist trouble began in Barcelona in April and forced him out of the French Open, Wimbledon and both the Canadian and Cincinnati Masters 1000s.
He said the early weeks of the layoff were the hardest.
“The first month was kind of difficult for me, because I couldn’t do anything with my right arm. It was tough,” he said in his pre-tournament interview.
His first-round win over Roman Safiullin in straight sets marked his first singles match in more than four months.
Sinner absent with knee injury
The Spaniard’s return has been made easier by the absence of his main rival. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner withdrew from the US Open on 21 August with a right knee injury that has kept him off court since his Wimbledon title defence in July.
Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final for his fifth Grand Slam trophy. Alcaraz holds six majors after beating Sinner in last year’s US Open final.
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With Sinner out, Zverev moved up to top seed and Alcaraz slotted in at No. 2. Alcaraz next plays China’s Wu Yibing in the third round.
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