Carlos Alcaraz remains among the leading contenders for the US Open despite having missed four and a half months with a wrist injury. The Spaniard was sidelined from April, but his return to competitive singles at Flushing Meadows has begun in controlled fashion.

So far, Alcaraz has moved through Roman Safiullin and Jaime Faria to reach the third round, and he has only dropped one set along the way. That run has done little to alter the sense that he is the player to beat in the draw. His next opponent is Wu Yibing, who earned the meeting by defeating James Duckworth in straight sets.

Daniil Medvedev was asked about Alcaraz’s prospects after advancing himself with a straight-sets win over Sebastian Gorzny. In his press conference, he backed the idea that the biggest names are always the main reference point in major tournaments.

“I think someone like Carlos or Novak as well, even if he is 39 years old. He was the same at Wimbledon and the final of the Australian Open. Yeah, he lost here but things like this can happen. Whenever people like this are in the draw, they are the favourites,” said Medvedev.

“We have no idea how Carlos is going to feel, how his body is going to feel going later into the tournament, but he is definitely the top favourite for the title.

“Usually it’s a mix of things. It is, of course, how you played in Cincinnati and how you played in summer but we just saw Arthur Fils and Brandon Nakashima losing, they had a great summer.

“Then you see the matches that you play here, I am happy with my first two matches. I am looking forward to trying to improve my form. So every tournament is a new story and I want to try and write a good one.”

Medvedev, a former US Open champion, has also seen the path open somewhat with several seeded players already out. Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal and Novak Djokovic’s early exit have changed the shape of the event, while Rafael Jodar, Fils, Andrey Rublev, Cameron Norrie, and Matteo Arnaldi have also departed in the opening rounds. That leaves Medvedev as the sixth highest-ranked player still standing, behind only Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Flavio Cobolli, and Alex de Minaur.

Former world No. 4 Greg Rusedski has offered his view on Alex Eala’s path at the 2026 US Open, with the Filipina already through one round and drawing plenty of attention.

Eala opened her campaign with a composed 6-1, 6-2 victory over world No. 122 Mary Stoiana on Tuesday. The No. 17 seed now turns to world No. 46 Oleksandra Oliynykova in the second round, with that match set for Louis Armstrong Stadium on Thursday.

If Eala advances, the draw could become significantly more demanding. A third-round meeting with 14th seed Iva Jovic is possible, and fourth seed Coco Gauff stands as a potential opponent in the last 16.

On his Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast, the 1997 US Open finalist focused on the prospect of an Eala-Jovic clash in round three. “That’s going to be a night session match if it happens — no question about it. It’s going to be on the Arthur Ashe stadium.

“And it’ll be interesting to see where the crowd goes on that one, because Eala mania continues. She deserves it. She’s been absolutely brilliant.”

Rusedski also said he expects Eala to handle the next hurdle with ease. “I expect her to cruise comfortably in the match coming up today [against Oliynykova],” he said.

“I think she’s just got too much game. I think she cuts through three and three (6-3, 6-3), and continues the roll.

“And we’ll probably get that Jovic-Eala match in the third round — which will be a real test for her — but I think she comes through that, and we get the fourth round we’ve all been talking about: Coco Gauff versus Eala… Arthur Ashe stadium, night session.

“But we don’t get ahead of ourselves too soon, but I think she does get through today pretty comfortably.”

He also praised her rise and popularity, noting her ranking, seeded status at a major, and growing appeal across the sport.

Carlos Alcaraz has made clear that he intends to alter his schedule in the years ahead, insisting that longer pauses from competition will be necessary if he wants to reduce the risk of further injury. The seven-time Grand Slam winner also believes the sport is heading toward an even more serious physical problem unless something changes.

For several seasons, Alcaraz and other leading players have argued that tennis’ demanding calendar is adding strain to their bodies. Their concerns have remained largely unanswered, and this year has brought more examples of the issue they have been highlighting. Alcaraz missed four months because of a wrist injury, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner has been sidelined from the US Open with a knee problem.

Alcaraz suffered the injury at the Barcelona Open in April and returned to action at Flushing Meadows this week. Speaking after his comeback, he again pointed to the 40-week schedule as a major concern and said the demands of the tour will force him to make difficult decisions if he is to extend his career.

“Returning took me more time than I wanted, to be honest. Obviously I didn’t want to have this break because of an injury, but in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks.

“Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all.

“I think they are adding more important tournaments. In a way, they are forcing us to choose. You can skip one or two, you can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, Grand Slams [that you can’t skip] and we are going to play for 40 weeks if we are going to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP requires us to play.

“It’s impossible and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players are getting tired and if they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see it even more [injuries] in the future.

“But for me, taking this break because of an injury, it wasn’t that good, but what I am saying is I am going to take some breaks and miss some tournaments in future for sure.”

He has played 80 matches in 2025, second only to Alexander Zverev, and was 23-3 for the 2026 season after his 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 second-round win over Jaime Faria. Alcaraz said he started the match too quickly and lacked patience in the opening set before settling down.

“The first set, I was feeling great, had a break point and a pretty easy forehand for me that I missed. I was in a rush. I didn’t take time. I wasn’t patient,” he said during his on-court interview. “That cost me the break. Against someone like Jaime, he’s serving like 140 [mph], every serve is really difficult.

“After that, I just tried to be focused and stay calm and think that good things are going to happen again.”