Carlos Alcaraz has vowed to take long breaks during the tennis season after he was struck down by a wrist injury that forced him out of action for over four months, but that decision will come with financial risk.

Alcaraz has made his comeback at the US Open, winning his first two matches after sitting out the last four-and-a-half months with impressive performances in New York.

Yet his comments after his latest match raised a few eyebrows, as he confirmed he is planning to take time away from the ATP Tour in future years, which would inevitably mean he will miss some high-profile tournaments.

Skipping mandatory ATP Tour events can come with penalties, with bonus payments at the end of each season also impacted by how many tournaments a player has competed in.

Alcaraz will be fully aware of those rules, but he insisted he is going to put his health first from this point forward.

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“Seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don’t want to have this break because of an injury. But in the future, I’m gonna take some breaks, some long breaks,” he declared.

“Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, start missing some tournaments because it’s impossible to play them all. They’re adding more important tournaments. In a way, they’re making us play.

“We’re seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don’t do anything about it, we’re gonna see it even more in the future.”

It remains to be seen whether the ATP Tour will listen to Alcaraz’s comments and revise their calendar, especially after they announced an new ATP Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia would be added to the calendar.

Now former British No 1 Tim Henman has joined the debate, as he said he could understand why Alcaraz is preparing to take time away from the sport.

“It’s all about the Grand Slams and performing at your best in those four events,” Henman told Sky Sports. “I can understand why he would say what he said.

“The people advising him will be telling him what he needs to do and that’s obviously how he feels. It will mean he misses some tournaments, but it’s all about the Slams.”

Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner missed out on millions of dollars last year after failing to play enough tournaments for qualify for end of season bonuses.

The ATP Bonus Pool is divided between players who earn the most ATP Rankings points at marquee events on the men’s tour.

The total of this Bonus Pool is $21 million, up from $11.5 million in 2022, but there are strict rules around the distribution of cash and they have affected Alcaraz and Sinner.

Alcaraz topped the bonus pool list for 2025 and was entitled to $4.8million, but there’s a rule that reduces a player’s reward by 25 per cent for every Masters 1000 tournament missed due to withdrawal or injury.

As Alcaraz missed the Canadian Open and Shanghai Masters, his payment was reduced by 50 per-cent.

He also missed the Madrid Open, but he was not punished for that absence, as he showed up at the event and completed his media duties, which ensured he would not be punished.

It meant Alcaraz got a $2.4million payment from the ATP bonus pool, which can be added to his $18,803,427 prize money for the season.

Sinner also paid a heavy financial price for missing four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in 2025, as he didn’t qualify for any bonus pool money last year after missing four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.

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