Carlos Alcaraz Faces Mental Battle Ahead of US Open Return

Carlos Alcaraz has won more than his share of five-set epics. This summer, his toughest battle took place far from the roar of a stadium.

The seven-time major champion admits it was not the pain in his wrist that tested him most, but the noise in his head.

“Those intrusive thoughts were the most difficult things to deal with in this process,” the 23-year-old said in New York, on the eve of his return to singles at the US Open.

A Champion Stuck in Limbo

Alcaraz has been sidelined from singles since mid-April, his season stalled by a wrist injury that refused to be rushed. For a player who lives on rhythm and repetition, the uncertainty cut deepest.

He could practise. He could hit. What he could not do was circle a date on the calendar with any conviction.

“Once I started to practice a little bit but didn't know when I'm going to return, those thoughts were really difficult to deal with,” he said. “I didn't know if I was going to be ready for Cincinnati, for the US Open, or I'm going to miss the whole American swing.”

For an athlete accustomed to controlling the tempo, he suddenly had none. No schedule, no guarantees, only questions.

Now the waiting is over. The defending champion at Flushing Meadows will walk back into Arthur Ashe Stadium as the No. 2 seed, opening against powerful Russian Roman Safiullin in a first-round match that will immediately test both his timing and his nerve.

The Wrist That Wouldn’t Be Rushed

The compression sleeve on his playing arm tells its own story. Alcaraz is back, but he is not taking chances.

The Spaniard has been dealing with what is believed to be tenosynovitis, an inflammation of the sheath that protects the tendon on the inside of the wrist. It is one of the most delicate areas for any tennis player, and for Alcaraz in particular, whose ferocious forehand channels huge force through that joint.

Wrist injuries have derailed careers. One reckless decision can turn a setback into a spiral. Alcaraz and his team chose patience.

He returned to a match court earlier this week in mixed doubles, partnering 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams in a curtain-raising appearance that eased him back into the glare of competition without the strain of best-of-five.

He insists the build-up has been enough.

“It's really challenging. Probably, you know, in terms of preparation and everything, it is not the best time,” he admitted. “But we, my team and me, believe that I'm ready.”

Fighting the Fear

The physical rehab has a clear protocol. The mental side is murkier. Alcaraz has had to learn to trust voices other than the anxious one in his own mind.

“I've got to trust my team, I've got to trust my people that tell me it's going be fine,” he said. “I just have to go 100%, and right now I think with the practices I have done so far, it's been all good. I'm trying to stay away from any fear and I'm playing normal.”

“Normal” for Alcaraz is not a modest standard. He is already a multiple US Open champion, lifting the trophy in New York in 2022 and again in 2025, and he arrives once more as the man everyone wants to beat on this court.

The questions now are different from those that plagued him in rehab. The doubts have shifted from “Will I make it?” to “How quickly can I find my level?”

Safiullin will not offer a gentle reintroduction. The Russian hits big, takes the ball early and will look to exploit any hesitation on the Alcaraz forehand, any reluctance to fully commit through that wrist.

If there is any lingering fear, it will not stay hidden for long.

Yet as the US Open lights up again, Alcaraz sounds like a man who has already survived the worst of it. The intrusive thoughts have been pushed back. The sleeve stays on. The racket is back in his hand.

Now the real test begins.