Carlos Alcaraz has been warned against making his injury comeback at the 2026 US Open, with a former top-five ATP player making a forceful case for caution.

Alcaraz remains on the entry list for the event, which begins on Sunday 30 August, but his place in the draw is far from certain. The Spaniard has not competed for more than four months after suffering a right wrist injury in a first-round win at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona in April.

With no tournaments scheduled before the US Open, concerns have grown that returning immediately in best-of-five-set matches could be too ambitious after such a long layoff. That debate is sharpened by the fact that Alcaraz is the defending champion in New York, having beaten Jannik Sinner in last year’s final to claim his second title at the major.

Jose Luis Clerc, the retired Argentine player who now works as a commentator and analyst, has been especially direct in his advice. Speaking on ESPN Tenis last week, he urged Alcaraz to stay away from the tournament and wait for a return in Asia.

“Don’t participate in the US Open,” Clerc said in a message directed to Alcaraz while speaking on ESPN Tenis.

Clerc then repeated that message with even more urgency when he appeared on ESPN Tenis again.

“Don’t play, Carlitos! Don’t play! Start in Asia like I told you,” Clerc declared.

“Don’t make me mad! Did you hear me?”

The comments underline the uncertainty around Alcaraz’s plans as the final decision approaches. For now, he is still listed for the US Open, but the question remains whether he will risk an immediate return or follow the advice to postpone his comeback.

Alex Eala’s emergence has become one of the most striking storylines in tennis, and every week she keeps winning, the attention around her seems set to grow further.

At the Washington Open final, the support for the Filipina was so strong that, even in Jessica Pegula’s home country, the atmosphere felt more like downtown Manila than a neutral setting. Pegula had already experienced that intensity in a three-set loss to Eala earlier this month, and she was candid about what it was like to face both the player and her travelling support.

“Just to see how far you’ve come over the last couple of years when we first played, to see the amazing fans that follow you every single place you go – it’s not fun to play against, but I do appreciate the really fun atmosphere.”

That reaction was echoed again in Toronto, where the crowd was eager to watch Eala in the Canadian Open. Caty McNally, who lost in three sets to Eala there, viewed the occasion differently and said it was a privilege to be involved. After the match, Eala was thanked for “letting me be a part of this”.

Eala’s growing fanbase has also been part of the discussion around her results. In Cincinnati, where she exited in the round of 32 to former Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova in another three-set match, Rennae Stubbs offered her view on how opponents should approach the challenge.

Stubbs, who has compared Eala’s relatively underpowered serve with that of Angelique Kerber, said dealing with the crowd is only part of the issue, alongside the quality of her groundstrokes and the first shot after serve.

On The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, she said, “You have to be mentally prepared to deal with the crowd. Not only Alex Eala’s ability and talent to take the ball on and redirect the ball really well, much like Angie Kerber used to do.

“If she allows Alex Eala to move around the court, she will lose.”

Stubbs also repeated her belief that the serve remains an area to watch, while noting opponents must learn how to handle the lefty delivery better.

Leading injury prevention and athlete welfare specialist Stephen Smith has described Emma Raducanu’s leg stress fracture as “the worst case scenario” for the British player.

Raducanu has been out of action since her straight-set loss to Donna Vekic in the Queen’s Club Championships final on 14 June. Her withdrawal from Wimbledon came on the eve of the tournament, and it was then revealed that she had sustained a grade four stress fracture in her right shin.

The 23-year-old later withdrew from the 2026 US Open nearly a month before the event began, after also pulling out of the WTA 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati. So far in 2026, the world No 59 has played 21 matches and holds an 11-10 record.

Smith, founder and CEO of Kitman Labs, said the injury sits at the most serious end of the scale. “A grade four stress fracture is the most serious classification. It indicates a near complete break — it doesn’t get much more serious than that,” he explained.

He added that the likely recovery period is substantial. “Generally, the recovery windows for an injury like that are anywhere from eight to 16 weeks, and often, it can even take longer.

“Maybe in other sports that are using other surfaces, it may be marginally less impactful, but the types of courts, the hard courts and hard surfaces that she’s been playing on… it’s probably the worst case scenario for someone like her.

“To have that in your shin, rather than even in your foot, it’s pretty indicative of some significant level of overload.”

Raducanu’s 2026 season problems were preceded by an early ending to her 2025 campaign in mid-October, when physical issues at Wuhan and Ningbo affected her. Her preparations for this season were then disrupted by a bone injury in her right foot that limited training.

Smith said that interruption may have helped set the stage for the breakdown. “One of the risks of having a shortened or disrupted pre-season is it doesn’t allow you to build that base that you need,” he said.

“Obviously, that was the case for her, and unfortunately, that’s resulted in a breakdown. And an injury like this, it’s not a single event, it’s a degenerative thing where there’s multiple overloads.

“That would tell us that, certainly, the base needed for what was happening wasn’t there, and the result is what we’re seeing right now.

“So, I think we can suggest that the interruption to her pre-season has now reared its head.”

Smith had issued a similar warning earlier in the year, saying the disrupted preparation could have “a meaningful impact on the entire season”, and he pointed to the possibility of a stress fracture if the area was overloaded.