Carlos Alcaraz is still the focus of close attention as he approaches a possible comeback after five months away from competition.

The Spaniard has been sidelined since suffering a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in April, a setback that forced him out of both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The missed events cost him the World No 2 ranking, which passed to Alexander Zverev.

There have, however, been signs that a return is moving closer. Alcaraz is entered for both the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, raising the prospect that he could be back in action within weeks.

Even so, the situation around his injury remains unclear. Clijsters said she was puzzled by the way Alcaraz has handled communication in recent weeks. Speaking on her podcast Love All, after dealing with wrist injuries during her own career, she said: “I don’t. I hope that we’ll maybe hear a little bit more about it once he starts coming back, where he explains it a little bit more.

“But I feel like he’s been very kind of like he has been secretive, but he hasn’t. Like we’ve seen him with a brace or a cast and you know at the start and then I think you know he posts some clips here and there where he’s actually hitting and doing some drills but I haven’t seen anything of him like playing full out yet either. So, I’m just very curious to see.”

Reports that Alcaraz has returned to light training have only added to the uncertainty about his readiness for Cincinnati and the US Open. The Cincinnati Open begins on 11 August, leaving limited time for him to build match rhythm before the hard-court stretch.

If he misses Cincinnati, Alcaraz would head into the US Open without a warm-up event. He would also lose the 1000 points he earned by winning the Masters event last year, which would leave him on 7160 points. Zverev is defending only semi-final points from that tournament, so a strong run from him could widen the gap further between World No 2 and World No 3.

Andy Roddick has offered a possible explanation for the concern that followed Carlos Alcaraz’s appearance at the 2026 World Cup final.

Alcaraz was in New Jersey on Sunday for Spain’s meeting with Argentina, and he played a visible part in the occasion by carrying the trophy onto the pitch before kick-off. He later watched Spain win 1-0 to secure their second World Cup title, before joining the celebrations with the players on the field.

During and after the match, television cameras repeatedly caught the 23-year-old in the stands. What stood out to many tennis fans was the support on his right wrist, which immediately led to fresh questions about his condition.

Alcaraz has not competed for more than three months after the right wrist problem that emerged at the Barcelona Open. The seven-time Grand Slam champion’s absence has kept attention fixed on when he might return, and his latest public outing only intensified that focus.

Speaking on his Served podcast, Roddick addressed the reaction to the wrist wrap and suggested it may not have signaled a setback. “So, I was like, ‘oh gosh, that’s not great’, but also, if I’m him, if you’re in a bunch of people and you’ve had a wrist injury, I would 100% have some marker that’s like, ‘don’t come up and shake my hand’. Maybe that’s all it was,” said the former world No 1.

Roddick added that the priority is simply seeing Alcaraz return when ready. “It’s interesting, ’cause all we want is for him to be back in the mix, and pragmatically I’m going, ‘take your time, long road ahead’, and it seems like he’s done that.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s rushing something or announcing a timeline where you’re going, ‘oof, are you sure?’ Listen, wrap, no wrap, I would have something, even if it was mostly fine.

“Even if it was like, ‘I’m close, I’m hitting balls’, whatever, I’m not going to go to the World Cup and shake 250 hands, and some guy that’s been on one comes and goes… like, I get it.

“So, hopefully that’s all it is. But obviously, we’re gonna have all eyes on the wrist area always, until we see him come out and he’s ripping it. So, I don’t know.”

Novak Djokovic has drawn a striking comparison between himself and the game’s leading young rivals, saying that facing Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner feels like meeting a younger version of his own game.

The Serbian has long stood at the top of the men’s game, eventually surpassing the standards set early in his career by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. A changed diet and a revised approach helped him break through their dominance in 2011, and he has since built a record of 24 majors, with Federer and Nadal now retired.

At 39, Djokovic is no longer the same player he was in his peak years, but he remains capable of beating anyone when he is at his best, including Sinner and Alcaraz. Even so, those matchups remain among the toughest challenges in tennis.

His style has evolved over time. Djokovic is now a more aggressive baseliner who aims to finish points more quickly, while his most successful periods were built on a more counterpunching approach. Alcaraz, who has seven Grand Slam titles, produces more winners but also more errors. Sinner, a five-time major champion, is perhaps closer to Djokovic in overall feel, though he plays with greater offence.

Djokovic said, via TNT Sports, “I want to kick their a** every day of the week. But to be honest, when I see them play, there’s contrasting styles with Federer and Nadal, really contrasting styles.

“I showed up as well, different. Three of us, we were all different. And now with Alcaraz and Sinner being the dominant force in tennis, these two guys remind me of myself so much.

“I’m like: ‘I’m playing myself from 10 years ago and 15 years ago’ and it kind of hurts me to feel that on the court. I mean, I know how to crack the code, but can I?”

After his straight-sets Wimbledon semi-final loss to Sinner, Djokovic said he would not be making a final appearance there. He has also indicated a desire to play the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which would see him compete at 41.

The world No 7, whose most recent Slam title came at the 2023 US Open, still has the pursuit of a 25th major as a major incentive. He also pointed to the value of rivalries as a source of motivation.

He added, “So, it’s always finding new ways to motivate yourself, to inspire yourself to be better and the rivalries are good,” he said. “They’re important. So you got to always find someone in the crowd or someone on the court that is going to push you to be better.”