Ajla Tomljanovic has singled out the area of Carlos Alcaraz’s game she believes has been most influenced by his wrist injury, even as the Spaniard continues to look increasingly settled at the US Open.

Alcaraz returned to competition in New York after more than four months away with a wrist problem. He first eased back through the mixed doubles before quickly finding his rhythm in singles, where his form has sharpened with each round at Flushing Meadows.

The seven-time major winner has conceded only one set in the tournament, that coming against Jaime Faria in the second round. On Sunday, he produced another strong display to defeat 20th seed Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Afterwards, the former world No 1 said, “I played my game. I tried to play my style. Tommy is such a talented player. His shots are pretty dangerous and sometimes it is really difficult to control the ball when it comes to you. I just tried to be ready for a battle and tried to be aggressive all the time.

“I tried not to let him stay [high up] on the court and I think I did pretty well to put so much pressure on return games, which for me helped a lot to play relaxed, to play calm and think clearly. I’m really happy with the performance today.”

Against Paul, Alcaraz struck three aces to four, landed 75% of his first serves, won 72% of those points, and collected 44% of return points. He also finished with 33 winners compared with Paul’s 18.

Alcaraz later said he felt he was back to full physical power, and he now moves on to face Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals.

Tomljanovic, speaking on the Big T podcast, suggested the forehand may already be back to an even higher level, while the serve still appears affected. She said, “It’s really impressive to me that apparently Carlos is hitting it harder than pre injury, whereas his serve hasn’t yet gotten to the miles per hour that we’ve seen pre injury.

“So clearly it tells us that the wrist issue must have been more present on the serve.”

Brad Gilbert was more encouraged by what he has seen, pointing to signs that Alcaraz is improving both physically and mentally as he trusts the wrist again.

Roger Federer stood among the last great exponents of the single-handed backhand just as the two-hander became the dominant force in the sport. Stan Wawrinka carried that style forward for years after Federer stepped away, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov and Lorenzo Musetti still keep it visible today, though few younger players are emerging behind them.

Going into this year’s US Open, one striking sequence remained intact: in every season since the first Wimbledon in 1877, at least one man with a one-handed backhand has reached a major semi-final.

Before Federer played an exhibition at Arthur Ashe Stadium late last month, the 20-time major champion spoke about his wish that the shot would survive. He told reporters, “My coaches when I was growing up, I would say, were 90% one-handers. I think when your coach is a one-handed tennis player, you will be most likely be a one-handed tennis player, too. Nowadays, the coaches are probably mostly double-handed players, and it’s just easier to teach a kid to have two hands on the backhand side.

“Back in the day, I used to do 50/50 on volleys and net play and baseline game. Before my time, it was probably more like 80% net play and 20% baseline drills, but now it’s like 90/10 for the baseline.

“I still believe the one-handed backhand isn’t over,” before joking, “I’ll pass on my wisdom to Musetti.”

Musetti and Shapovalov both exited in the second round in New York, leaving Tsitsipas as the lone hope to preserve the streak. The Greek reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time in his career, and ahead of his last-16 match against Ben Shelton, the 28-year-old wrote, “I’ve got a 150-year streak to save.”

That hope did not last. Shelton overpowered the unseeded Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday night.

Before the tournament, Tsitsipas called the single-handed backhand a “dinosaur going extinct”. Musetti, meanwhile, said two-handed backhands “offer an advantage in modern tennis”. Federer said he was “hopeful” the shot was not finished, but the direction of the game suggests otherwise, with children increasingly taught the two-hander from the start.

For the one-hander to remain part of the sport’s future, it may need a new generation willing to defend it.

Alex Eala has wrapped up her North American hard-court stretch after a third-round exit at the US Open, with her next stop set for Asia on the WTA Tour calendar.

The Filipina’s trip through the United States and Canada covered seven busy weeks and began at the Washington DC Open. From there, she moved on to the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open and then the US Open, following the productive grass-court season that preceded it.

Her best result of the swing came at the WTA 500 Citi DC Open, where she defeated Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula on the way to her first WTA singles title. She then reached the round of 16 in Toronto before going out in the second round in Cincinnati.

After that, she responded in New York with a career-best run to the third round at the US Open, where she fell in three sets to good friend Iva Jovic. Although the result ended her campaign, it also closed a North American spell that delivered both a title and a further deep Grand Slam run.

Eala had already confirmed she will represent the Philippines at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. During her post-match press conference at the US Open, she also made clear she has one more WTA Tour event before that.

“Before that I believe I’ll be in Singapore,” she said.

The Singapore Open is scheduled for 21-27 September, and Eala is set for her second appearance at the event. This time, however, she will enter the main draw for the first time. She played there in February 2025 but lost in the second round of qualifying.

Eala is expected to be seeded sixth in Singapore thanks to her current WTA Ranking of 18. After that, she will head to Japan for the Asian Games, which run from 27 September to 3 October at Higashiyama Park Tennis Centre.

Her decision to play there means she will miss the China Open in Beijing, but she is expected to return later in China for the Wuhan Open. The Asia swing runs until 8 November, and while her remaining schedule is not yet confirmed, she is expected to add more events before the season ends.