NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 02: Carlos Alcaraz does an interview after the Men’s Singles match on Day Four of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 in Flushing, NY. (Photo by Simon Bruty/USTA via Getty Images)
USTA via Getty Images
Carlos Alcaraz is back playing tennis after missing 4 1/2 months due to a right wrist injury.
Alcaraz, the defending U.S. Open champion and a seven-time Grand Slam winner, didn’t want to miss that much time because of injury but it did give him a break of sorts from the grueling year-long tennis schedule.
Now Alcaraz, 23, says he plans to take “some long breaks” in his calendar going forward in order to keep himself fresh and healthy.
“Seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don’t want to have this break because of an injury,” Alcaraz said following his 4-set win over Portugal’s Jaime Faria Wednesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “But in the future, I’m gonna take some breaks… some long breaks. Maybe not 4 months, but 1 month, 2 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….There are some Masters 1000, there are some Grand Slams, and we’ve been out playing 40 weeks if we gonna play every tournament that the ATP required us to play. It’s impossible.
“We’re seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. And if they don’t do anything about it, we’re gonna see it even more in the future.
“So for me, taking this break because of an injury, it wasn’t that good. But what I’m gonna say is I’m gonna take some breaks and miss some tournaments in the future for sure.”
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is missing the Open with a knee injury while other players have complained about the absurd length of the tennis schedule.
Novak Djokovic, the 24-time major champion, has barely played any tournaments outside of the Grand Slams in recent years to manage his schedule. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also carefully managed their schedules in the latter portions of their careers.
“There’s no offseason, and if you’re a top player, you actually get even less of an offseason,” American Taylor Fritz told ESPN in 2025. “If the season were to end in Paris [in early November] like it does for most players, then you get a month and a half before the season starts, maybe even a little more, I think maybe a week extra, but if you play the Tour Finals and Davis Cup, you’re actually adding three more weeks onto it, and then if you play United Cup like I do, because you’re top player, it starts earlier as well.”
He added:
“People don’t understand you have to be training during that time. The offseason is your time to train, so if I have three weeks, I take one week [to relax or go on vacation] and that’s it. I get one week off the whole year. It’s absurd.”
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