Alcaraz Out of Cincinnati — Still No Return Date, US Open Unclear

Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Cincinnati Open on 4 August, extending an absence that has now run past four months and leaving him without a competitive match before the US Open. The withdrawal was announced by tournament organizers. Neither Alcaraz nor his team has issued a statement, no reason for the withdrawal has been given, and no return date has been set. He is currently ranked world No. 2, remains entered at the US Open, where the main draw begins 30 August, and is the defending champion there. The only tour event left between now and then is the ATP 250 in Winston-Salem, where qualifying begins 16 August. Reporting in Spain has suggested his team is weighing a wild card request. Nothing has been confirmed by the player, his team or the tournament.

The report, published on 14 July, states that Alcaraz was examined by Dr Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro on Friday 10 July — the appointment expected to decide his season — and that the tendon sheath injury has resolved. It adds that Alcaraz and his team then chose to extend his recovery rather than accelerate it, which is why his name did not appear on the Canadian Open entry list, and that a follow-up appointment with Ruiz-Cotorro in the days afterward is expected to clear him for unrestricted training.

That report is now overtaken by events. Alcaraz never confirmed he would play Cincinnati, and on 4 August the tournament announced he would not. Whether the wrist suffered a setback in the intervening weeks, or whether the gap between resuming practice and playing matches was simply too short, has not been explained by anyone with direct knowledge.

What remains is a narrower set of facts. Alcaraz will not play Cincinnati. He is entered at the US Open and has not withdrawn from it. Seedings there are set by the rankings published 24 August, with the draw made on 27 August.

CARLOS ALCARAZ — THE STATE OF PLAY

Ranking: World No. 2
Injury: Inflamed tendon sheath (tenosynovitis), right wrist
Sustained: Barcelona Open, first round, mid-April 2026
Last match played: Barcelona Open, 14 April 2026
Tournaments missed: Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros, Queen’s, Wimbledon, Canadian Open, Cincinnati
Medical status: Unclear. Reported fully healed in mid-July; never confirmed by player or team, and contradicted in practice by the 4 August Cincinnati withdrawal.
Likely comeback event: None set. Withdrew from Cincinnati on 4 August; entered at the US Open but not confirmed by player or team
Defending champion at: Cincinnati Masters (will not defend), US Open
Points to defend: 3,000 (Cincinnati 1,000 — now forfeited; US Open 2,000)
US Open main draw begins: Sunday 30 August

How he got here

Alcaraz has not played a competitive match since April, when he felt his wrist give way during a first-round win over Otto Virtanen at the Barcelona Open. The diagnosis was an inflamed tendon sheath. What followed was the worst run of his career: withdrawals from Madrid, Rome, Roland Garros, Queen’s Club and Wimbledon, and the loss of both his world No. 1 ranking and any chance of defending the clay and grass titles that had made him the sport’s dominant figure a year ago.

He began 2026 as the world’s best player, completing the Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January before adding the Doha title. He has spent four months since April watching the tour move on without him. Alexander Zverev’s run to the Wimbledon final briefly pushed him down to No. 3; he sits at No. 2 as of 4 August, a position that will not survive the points coming off his ranking this month.

Why the next six weeks decide his season

The stakes are precisely quantifiable. Alcaraz won the Cincinnati Masters last year, beating Jannik Sinner in the final, and then the US Open. Across those two tournaments he has 3,000 ranking points to defend. Fail to appear at either and he falls out of the top five.

There is a longer shadow, too. Several pundits have urged him not to rush, pointing to the wrist injuries that disrupted the careers of Dominic Thiem and Juan Martín del Potro — a comparison that would once have seemed alarmist and no longer does. Wrist injuries in tennis are not like hamstrings. They recur.

Which is why the Cincinnati withdrawal, whatever prompted it, reads less like a setback than a calculation. A player who has already lost a clay season and a grass season has nothing to gain from arriving at a Masters 1000 at seventy percent, and a great deal to lose.

What still isn’t known

Whether the wrist can take competitive load. Alcaraz has reintroduced right-handed hitting only gradually over the past fortnight, and full-intensity practice is not five sets in New York humidity. Nobody — including his medical team — knows how the tendon responds until it is tested.

Whether he plays the US Open at all. He is on the entry list, but Cincinnati has just demonstrated that an entry is not a commitment, and withdrawals are possible up to the start of play.

And whether four months without a match can be undone in three weeks. He has never been away this long.

UPDATE LOG

5 August — Alcaraz returns to world No. 2 without playing. The ranking published 3 August moves him back above Alexander Zverev, 8,160 points to 8,120, after points earned at last year’s Canadian Open came off a week early for everyone who played that event — a consequence of the tournament shifting later in the 2026 calendar. Alcaraz, absent in both years, lost nothing and gained a place. The margin is 40 points and Zverev is playing Montreal this week, so the position is unlikely to hold. The larger number sits behind it. Alcaraz won Cincinnati in 2025 and, having withdrawn, will not defend the 1,000 points attached to that title, which on current totals would leave him at 7,160. A further 2,000 sit on the US Open, where he is the defending champion and remains entered but unconfirmed.

4 August — The Cincinnati Open announces that Alcaraz has withdrawn. Tournament director Bob Moran says in a statement that Alcaraz is doing everything he can to return to playing tournaments as soon as possible. No reason for the withdrawal is given, no statement follows from the player or his team, and no return date is set. He remains on the US Open entry list.

1 August — Alcaraz trains on outdoor hard courts for a second consecutive day, working on return of serve, after hitting outdoors for the first time since the injury on 31 July. The progression from light indoor hitting to full-intensity outdoor sessions is the clearest physical marker yet. He still makes no announcement, and no return date has been confirmed by the player, his team or the ATP.

29 July — Alcaraz posts training footage showing the right forehand struck at full power, the clearest visual signal yet that the wrist is handling load. Still no statement from the player or his team about a return date.

15 July — The Cincinnati Open lists Alcaraz among its singles entrants. He does not address the listing publicly, and an entry-list place is not a commitment to play.

14 July — La Verdad reports that Dr Ángel Ruiz-Cotorro examined Alcaraz on Friday and found the wrist fully healed. Cincinnati, from 13 August, is now the stated comeback target. A follow-up appointment in the days afterward is expected to clear him for unrestricted training. No confirmation from the player, his team or the ATP.

11 July — Alcaraz’s name is absent from the Canadian Open entry list. Boris Becker, reacting to training footage the player posted showing soft forehands struck with the injured hand, says he remains a long way from returning. Tennis365 reports the rehabilitation is progressing more slowly than his team had hoped and raises the possibility he may not play again in 2026 — a reading the 14 July report cuts against sharply.

Mid-April — Alcaraz feels the wrist give way in the first round in Barcelona. Diagnosis: inflamed tendon sheath. He will not play again for at least four months.