NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, August 29, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
As the 2026 US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year, begins at Flushing Meadows on Sunday, two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will be trying to defend his title. He returns to the biggest stage in pro tennis at Arthur Ashe Stadium following an injury to his right wrist that has kept him off the tennis court for the past four months.
Alcaraz’s biggest rival, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, whom he defeated to win the 2025 US Open title, is out with a right knee injury. That means that 2026 French Open champion and this year’s No. 1 seed at the US Open, Alexander Zverev of Germany, and 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia loom as Alcaraz’s chief competition as the 23-year-old Spaniard chases after his third overall US Open title to go with ones won in 2022 and 2025.
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On Friday afternoon, the seven-time major champion Alcaraz sat for Media Day and had plenty to say. “Long time, long time.
“I’m feeling very good, and I think that injury helped me a lot to understand that right now, everything is in my head,” Alcaraz said of the tenosynovitis – a wrist injury in which fluid accumulates in the sheath of one of the most important tendons in the joint. – that has sidelined him since Barcelona last April.
“I have to trust my team, trust the people who tell me that everything is going to be fine. So, I just have to go 100 percent. Right now, with the training I’ve done so far, everything has gone well. I’m trying to get away from that fear and play normally.”
Although Alcaraz said he’s feeling 100 percent, a fear of hitting the ball at full speed and motion is similar to the same condition and mindset he felt when he injured his arm before Roland-Garros in 2024.
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Alcaraz was asked by a reporter to describe how tough the process of injury recovery has been.
“The first month was kind of difficult for me because I couldn’t do anything with my right arm,” said Alcaraz, who has compiled a 22-4 win-loss record and won titles back-to-back titles at the Australian Open and Doha on hard courts and was a finalist at Monte-Carlo on clay before injuring his wrist at Barcelona playing on clay.
“It was tough. But at the same time, I enjoyed my time. I enjoyed being with my family, my friends, being at home.
“But once I started to practice a little bit, [and] I didn’t know when I’m going to start [playing], those thoughts were really difficult to manage because I didn’t know if I would be ready for Cincinnati, the US Open, or if I would miss the whole American swing.
“So, those thoughts were really difficult to deal with. But finally, here we are. My goal was to try to be healthy as soon as possible and to try not to miss more competitions. So, I would say that intrusive thoughts were the most difficult things to deal with in this process.”
Just exactly what should we expect from Alcaraz, who will make his 2026 US Open debut on Monday against 98th-ranked Roman Safiullin of Russia? Well, Alcaraz comes in fresh off playing in the US Open mixed doubles event during Fan Week, where he formed an iconic partnership with American Serena Williams and advanced to the quarterfinals. Although, at times he showed a bit of rust, overall Alcaraz displayed loads of talent and played with lots of instinct. With mixed doubles behind him, Alcaraz for one, expects a challenge from Safiullin, a big hitter who always seems to lift his game against big-name players – and he welcomes getting matches again.
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“I haven’t changed anything. I’ve been doing the same things. I haven’t changed anything, technically, in terms of my movements or the way I’m going to play. I just wanted to feel that I was going to be myself,” said Alcaraz, who will begin with a seven-match win streak at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Alcaraz’s road to a successful title defense means he could face up-and-coming Jaime Faria of Portugal in the second round, No. 30 seed Matteo Arnaldi of Italy in the third round and No. 15 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the fourth round. He could meet No. 8 seed and recent Montreal champion Ben Shelton of the United States in the quarterfinals and four-time US Open champion Djokovic in the semifinals.
“I knew that coming here to the US Open, being a best-of-5-set tournament and being my first tournament after such a long time, was going to be a huge challenge,” Alcaraz said. “Probably, in terms of preparation, it wasn’t the ideal time. But my team and I believe that I’m ready.”
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The last time a US Open men’s title was successfully defended in New York was by Hall of Famer Roger Federer, who won five straight US Open titles from 2004-08.
After missing both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon earlier this season – especially after beating Sinner in an epic 5-set battle, then losing to him in a tough 4-set title match – Alcaraz didn’t want to face missing a third-straight major.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” he admitted. “I did everything I needed to do to be ready. I tried to do everything perfectly, both on and off the court, to feel prepared.
“We saw that everything was fine, that everything was responding properly, and we believed it was the right time to come back.”
Sunday’s US Open order of play
By the numbers
Since the US Open moved from Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows in 1978, no men’s singles champion has won the title without playing in at least one North American hard-court event in the lead-up to the tournament. This year, while recovering from his wrist injury, Carlos Alcaraz missed playing tournaments in Washington, D.C., Montreal and Cincinnati.
“Quotable …”
“I think there is no better tournament than the US Open to be back and feel the love and feel the warm, welcome that the people here are always giving to me.”
– Defending men’s singles champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, during his pre-tournament news conference on Friday.
