RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is set to make his return at the US Open after missing four months with a wrist injury.
The 23-year-old triumphed at the Australian Open in January to become the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam titles.
However, the Spaniard has not played a competitive match since 14 April after injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open.
The news was confirmed by football influencer Fabrizio Romano in a joint post with Alcaraz on Instagram.
Seven-time major champion Alcaraz also wrote "here we go!" - Romano's catchphrase - in a post on X , external with an emoji of the American flag and a plane.
As well as playing singles, Alcaraz could also enter the mixed doubles competition that takes place the week before the US Open, with three wildcards still to be handed out.
Alcaraz played in the revamped event last year alongside Britain's Emma Raducanu, who is out of this year's tournament with injury.
Alcaraz has been replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev after being unable to defend his Cincinnati Open title.
Rival Jannik Sinner is well clear at the top of the world rankings, having won Wimbledon in July, while Zverev won the French Open and finished runner-up at SW19.
Sinner - as he did at Wimbledon - will go into the US Open with no match time on a hard court after withdrawing from Cincinnati with a knee injury.
The US Open singles event begins on Sunday, 30 August in New York.
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He won February's Qatar Open but lost in the semi-finals at Indian Wells in March and the third round of the Miami Open.
Sinner replaced him as world number one after beating him in the final of April's Monte Carlo Masters in their sole meeting of the year so far.
Alcaraz then managed just one match in Barcelona before injuring his wrist.
After missing the majority of the clay-court swing and the entire grass season with his wrist injury, Alcaraz made a cautious return to training in July.
He was photographed hitting at a training session in Spain on 4 August, but pulled out of the Cincinnati Open a day later.
He has worn a sleeve on his forearm in subsequent workouts on his home courts in Murcia and has been practising with Holger Rune in recent weeks.
Denmark's Rune, a good friend of Alcaraz, is returning to training after he ruptured his Achilles in October last year.
Wrist injuries are notoriously problematic for tennis players, especially if not managed correctly, and Alcaraz said in April he did not want to do further harm for "future tournaments".
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem retired at the end of 2024 after his career was derailed by a wrist injury, while Juan Martin del Potro was also plagued by a wrist problem after winning his sole major at the 2009 US Open.
Alcaraz was only 19 when he won his first Grand Slam at the 2022 US Open, beating Casper Ruud to become the youngest men's major champion in 17 years.
He repeated the feat last year, beating Sinner in four sets.
Sinner has dominated the men's tour in his rival's absence, having lost only three matches this year.
Two of those defeats came in the first two months of the year - and one was to an inspired performance by 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals.
He swept the 'Sunshine Double' - the name given to the back-to-back tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami Open - without dropping a set.
A shock French Open exit aside, precious few have been able to deny five-time Slam champion Sinner this year.
His fitness will be his main concern before the final Grand Slam of the season begins at Flushing Meadows.
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