NEW YORK — Carlos Alcaraz said on Friday (Saturday in Manila) he feels at “100 percent” ahead of his defense of the US Open, but acknowledged feeling anxious after a four-month layoff due to a wrist injury.
The Spaniard has drawn confidence from grueling practice sessions ahead of the Grand Slam, he told reporters at a pretournament media day.
“I need to come here to practice with these guys to feel the competition once again, and this is really testing,” he said.
“I’m feeling great and ... that helped me a lot to know right now that it’s all in my head,” he said.
Alcaraz, 23, the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam after triumphing in Australia in January, hasn’t played singles since April 16, withdrawing from the Barcelona Open with a right wrist injury and subsequently skipping both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Alcaraz, who partnered Serena Williams in the US Open’s mixed doubles event on Tuesday, told reporters on Friday that his coaching and support team had complete confidence that he was ready to go.
“I gotta trust my people that tell me that it’s gonna be fine. So I just have to go 100 percent,” he said. “So I’m just trying to to like stay away ... from that fear.”
Alcaraz will open his defense against Russian veteran Roman Safiullin.
Should he clear that and the subsequent two matches, he could face a potential fourth-round match with Tommy Paul or Alexander Bublik, with potentially either Ben Shelton or Arthur Fils looming in the quarterfinals.
The Spanish star would normally be an automatic favorite to win again in New York. But the injury has made him more of a question mark in 2026.
Other top players are not discounting Alcaraz’s chances.
“I expect him to be maybe a bit rusty the first or second match, but once he gets through that, I think he’s going to be a contender for sure here,” said second-ranked Alexander Zverev, the top seed due to the withdrawal of world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
Coming back after a layoff at a Grand Slam where men play three out of five sets is “not necessarily easy to do,” said American Taylor Fritz, the ninth seed.
