Leading coach Patrick Mouratoglou has assessed that Carlos Alcaraz is going to be “way too short” on preparation to play the 2026 US Open.
Alcaraz has been practising as he works his way towards a return to the tour, having been sidelined since April due to a right wrist injury.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of the Cincinnati Masters, and he is yet to confirm when he will make his comeback.
The 23-year-old Spaniard remains on the entry list for the US Open, which will get underway in less than two weeks, but it is unclear whether he will try to defend his crown in New York.
In a video posted on his Instagram account, Mouratoglou said there are “good reasons to be optimistic” about Alcaraz, but he cast doubt over the Spaniard’s US Open hopes.
“I understand people were surprised when Carlos withdrew from Cincinnati because they think, ‘Oh, he can hit the ball, he should be able to compete.’ It’s not that simple,” said the Frenchman.
“There are good reasons to be optimistic. It’s great to see Carlos practising, hitting the ball, being intense and everything. It looks like a normal preparation.
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“The thing is, this happened just a few days ago, and a Grand Slam is around the corner, and did he start early enough?
“You know, he’s probably super tired, super sore. He should be able to do that for two, three weeks in a row to be ready for a Grand Slam.
“The preparation is going to be way too short. When you’re out for such a long time, hitting the ball that hard every single day, to come back to it, it’s painful.
“You need time for the body to get used to it and even more in competition.
“We’ve seen a lot of footage of him hitting from the baseline. We don’t see him serve fully.
“When you serve full power, this is where the wrist works the most and this is probably the most traumatic.
“So, in general, you wait before starting to serve fully.”
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