Carlos Alcaraz is still sidelined as concern grows over the injury that has kept him off the tour since April. The seven-time Grand Slam champion hurt his right wrist during his first-round win at the Barcelona Open, and he has reportedly been dealing with tenosynovitis, an inflammation of the tendon sheath in the wrist.

The world No 2 has already pulled out of the Cincinnati Masters, which starts on Thursday, and there are now doubts about whether he will be ready for the 2026 US Open.

Those doubts have been fuelled by comments from Gianni Daniele, the chief doctor and chair of the medical and anti-doping commission of the Italian Tennis Federation. In an interview with Italian newspaper la Repubblica, Daniele questioned the seriousness of Alcaraz’s problem and said the 23-year-old is “experiencing a sort of mental weakness.”

“It’s never been entirely clear what kind of wrist injury Carlos suffered,” said Daniele.

“Now there’s a rumour going around that he’s experiencing a sort of mental weakness.

“Struggling to regain his former intensity, a form of depression has reportedly set in, creating a vicious cycle that prevents him from regaining the same confidence he had in the past.

“Doubts are beginning to take hold in his mind, and it’s a real shame — even for the world No 1 (Jannik Sinner) — not to be facing a rival of immense class.”

The remarks have drawn sharp criticism, particularly from Jose Moron, a prominent Spanish tennis journalist, who reacted on Twitter/X.

“This is absolutely DISGRACEFUL,” Moron began (translated from Spanish).

“This guy speaks about Carlos like this without having the slightest clue what he’s talking about.

“It seems utterly abhorrent to me that [someone] from the Italian Tennis Federation would have words of such magnitude toward Alcaraz.

“I can’t imagine the Spanish Federation saying anything about Jannik [Sinner]. You’ve got to have more class.”

Novak Djokovic is long past measuring his career in financial terms, yet the player who leads the men’s prize money standings may still reach a notable milestone in the coming weeks.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion has earned $194,656,816 in career prize money. That total reflects a career defined by extraordinary success, including more weeks at No 1 than any other player and more ATP Masters 1000 titles than anyone else.

Behind him on the all-time earnings list are Rafael Nadal on $134,946,100 and Roger Federer on $130,594,339. Those figures are expected to keep rising across the sport as prize money continues to increase, and the US Open is set to announce a larger top prize after last year’s record $5m award to the men’s and women’s champions in New York.

For the moment, though, Djokovic remains the earnings leader, and he has a realistic chance to become the first player in tennis history to pass $200m in prize money if his next few weeks on US hard courts go well.

He will be among the favourites at the Cincinnati Masters after world No 1 Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz withdrew because of injury. A title there would bring him $1,151,380. If he then went on to win the US Open a couple of weeks later, he would move beyond the $200m mark.

Djokovic’s income has not come only from competition. Long-running sponsorship arrangements with Head, Lacoste, Asics and other companies have added substantially to his wealth.

When asked about money in an interview with Piers Morgan last year, Djokovic said it has never been his main motivation.

“You know, we live in a very materialistic society these days. It’s nothing against you but I am not like that,” he stated in the interview.

“I don’t want to give all the information about what I am worth and what my investments are, it’s none of their business. Why should I disclose that? For what reason? There are things that are disclosed like prize money and people know about or contracts, but other things, no.

“Money is important. It’s very important and it does bring security, no doubt about it. It’s one of the driving forces in society today, you cannot neglect the importance of money.

“But if money is the only thing you are thinking about, in my experience as an athlete, for me it’s more of a meritocracy model – if I win a tournament, I get rewarded with sponsorship deals.

“But it’s about the mentality and the brand you want to create around yourself. I don’t like to talk about this but I did refuse a lot of the big brands and big paycheques in my career, because I cannot represent something I do not believe in. I have always tried to play the long game.”

Ben Shelton negotiated a difficult assignment against Joao Fonseca to secure his place in the Canadian Open quarter-finals.

The American remains the highest seed still in the draw and is continuing his attempt to defend the title he won last year, following the first Masters trophy of his career in 2025. He moved through with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Fonseca, which booked a last-eight meeting with Jakub Mensik at the Masters event.

Even with the straight-sets result, Shelton said the contest was far from simple. He felt he had to work through the match in tough conditions and linked that feeling to the nature of the evening. In his Canadian Open press conference, he said: “I think just dealing with the conditions really well. It was super windy. It’s impossible to play clean, pretty tennis with the wind.

“So just problem solve, figure things out. Some bad misses, they’re going to happen on a night like tonight. And just keep coming forward to the net and put the pressure on.”

Shelton’s path to the quarter-finals has also included wins over Jenson Brooksby and Zizou Bergs. That run has left him as the clear favourite in the tournament, but the next hurdle is not an easy one. Mensik has beaten Shelton in their last two meetings, both coming in 2025, at the Madrid Open and the ASB Classic. Shelton’s only win in the rivalry came at Indian Wells in 2024.

If Shelton can get past Mensik, he will meet the winner of Learner Tien and Daniel Merida. Also still alive in the draw are Rafael Jodar, Arthur Fils, Luciano Darderi, and Brandon Nakashima.

Shelton is the only top-10 ATP Tour player left in the event, with Jodar the next highest-ranked player at world No 13. That gives the American a strong opportunity to capture another Masters title, and perhaps arrive at the US Open in ideal form.

With Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner not playing a warm-up event before the US Open this year, the opening week in New York could produce surprises. An American man has not won the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2003, a long drought for the nation.